What species of animals specific to the Americas made the early settlers stop and say "holy shit, what the fuck"?
Posted Feb 4, 2019, 3:51 PM UTC
1025
I live in an old Spanish settlement in FL. The images they drew of alligators are quite hilarious because they appear to be much larger than they actually are.
11
They may actually have been bigger. I remember reading an article a few months ago that deer used to be much bigger 2-300 years ago. Because of the pressure put on by hunting and the tradition of taking the larger animals first, it lead to a reverse darwinian situation where by killing the largest animals, the smaller ones were more likely to reproduce and pass on their genes. Kinda like how we turned the once large wolf into tiny dogs like pugs.
So it's reasonable that even without gators being hunted, that with humans coming in and changing their access to food, that the larger ones would have a harder time sustaining themselves so the smaller ones would be more likely to live a long time and pass on their genes.
3
It’s entirely possible but I think the historians have somewhat debunked it. They also drew the local natives as HUGE. While they were quite taller than the Spanish, they weren’t the giants they depicted. Some of the best images are the ones where the giant natives are taking down giant gators. Yes, they were big and likely very frightening, I think it’s a matter of perspective in this case. They could’ve been bigger than they are now but I don’t think they were 30 feet long. I could totally be wrong though- just going off memory of what I’ve heard and read about it.
2
I admit I'm not a gator expert, I AM big into the world of deer hunting and there's been a lot of recent archeological work and finding bone samples from the early Americas and the deer were much larger than they are today. What would be considered a world record class deer in 2018 was par for the course to anything you'd find in the woods at the time of the American Revolution.
But you're right, there is a lot of "creative liberties" taken with paintings and the proportions are not always correct.
4
It makes a lot of sense. You’ve piqued my curiosity to look into it more. Fortunately, we have a lot of alligator experts in the area.
2
There's also the general trend of animals getting smaller with less oxygen in the atmosphere.
2
Europeans were aware of lions, tigers, rhinos and elephants (the most bizarre looking things when you think about it). What could America throw at them that would make them step back? Maybe some Amazonian snakes? I dunno but I figure nothing too mind blowing.
6
Llamas
Manatees
Bison/Buffalo
Gators (I guess they knew of them, but it's not like they'd personally seen them before)
11
Jefferson used the moose to defend America from European snobbery.
5
Duck bill platypus
0†
Right answer, but ten points docked for getting the continent wrong
7
Dangit! You're right, still applies though.
0
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1
Alots of weird insects and goddam piranhas or toothpick fish must have discouraged some from venturing in the forests and rivers :D
5
I bet opossums were almost freightening to them. They are like giant, feisty rats.
5
The Europeans have a bad history with rats.
2
Skunks. There were no skunks in England and the pelts were highly prized for there uniqueness. The first encounter however must have been quite an odiferous surprise!
5
What do you mean there were no skunks in England, have you not seen the live action 101 Dalmatians film?
2
Ha... That was an amazing documentary!
1
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1
New World Tarantulas probably.
1
I could’ve sworn I read somewhere that English settlers found raccoons to be a bit bizarre.
1
The grizzly bear
There's a section in Ken Burns documentary on the Lewis and Clark expedition where they discuss the expeditions hearing about grizzlies and their first encounter.
While they over-wintered near what is now Washburn, North Dakota, the local native-Americans told them about great brown bears. They said they never attacked a bear unless they had a party of 6 to 8 men. Lewis and Clark were not impressed. They said they had bears back east and besides they had firearms while the natives only had bows and arrows.
Some time later after several narrow escapes and tough kills they changed their mind :
Grizzly bears aren't that different from the Eurasian brown bears that are common, especially throughout Russia.
While you are technically correct, the bigger Eurasian bears tend to come from eastern and northern parts of the continent. And considering the settlers were mostly of west European origin, i think it is fair to say they could have been startled by the size of the Grizzlies.