Get to know the animals of Arken Freeth’s world
Toth
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Toth
Modern day name: Columbian Mammoth
Scientific Name: Mammuthus Columbi
Description: The Toth was the largest of the wooly mammoths. It was used by the Lantish Army to carry two archers in a box that was covered in bronze. The archers fired through slits so they were impossible to hit by arrows fired from the ground. The Toth was covered in bronze armor so the animal and its archers were deadly fighters on the battlefield.
Height at shoulder: 13 – 14 ft.
Height top of head: 15 – 16 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 20 ft.
Tail length: 2-3 ft.
Weight: 22,000 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Grasslands of all North America.
Time it lived in North America: Most of North America where grass was abundant. Went extinct about 8,000 years ago, 6,000 BC.
How and what it ate: Grazed on grasses of the plains. The teeth of the mammoth are similar to those of cattle, elk and buffalo’s, they are flat and used exclusively for grinding the grasses they eat. This does confine the animal to a diet of grass, and they are unable to live on other foods such as bark or sagebrush. This is seen in modern times with elk unable to adapt to terrain without grasses, while deer, who are browsers with pointed teeth (similar to the mastodon below) are able to eat a wider variety of vegetation.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Arken kills a Toth in the Toth hunter, he saves Lon’s life in the process and by killing a Toth, he is initiated as a bull of the Water Cave tribe.
Links to further research:
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/mammuthus-columbi-columbian-mammoth.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_mammoth
Darwulf
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Darwulf
Modern day name: Dire Wolf
Scientific Name: Canis Dirus
Description: The Darwulf was somewhat larger than today’s grey wolf. Much is known about the grey wolf and it is assumed that the Darwulf looked much the same, although larger, and it hunted more powerful prey, like the ban which is 30% larger than today’s buffalo.
Height at shoulder: 3 ft.
Height top of head: 3.5 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail 4.3 ft.
Tail length 1 ft.
Weight: 125 to 180 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Plains, grasslands and forests of North America, though nothing north of the 42 degree north latitude.
Time it lived in North America: 125,000 to 9,440 years ago, 7,440 BC
How and what it ate: The Darwulf’s diet was primarily horses and bison. The darwulf was more powerfully built than the modern grey wolf, so the darwulf ate bigger, more powerful herbivores, while the grey wolf ate elk and deer. The darwulf hunted in packs like today’s grey wolf. The darwulf’s teeth were larger than modern day wolves and its powerful jaw muscles gave it the ability to tear flesh with its mouth, while the pressure it could apply with its canine teeth could easily crack bones to get at the edible marrow.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: While hunting on the yellowgrass plain a darwulf looks down upon Lon, Mar, Arken and Asher where they are hiding in a ditch. Arken’s eyes meet those of the darwulf’s and the animal sniffs, but then disappears in pursuit of larger game more typical of the darwulf’s diet than a human.
Links to further research: A great place to visit and see the skeletons of many animals from Arken’s time is the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Their link is below, tarpits.org. It is fascinating to visit the La Brea tar pits in Southern California because they have so many remnants of the animals from this ear like the dire wolf, coyote and saber tooth cat. The tar pits themselves are astounding, they are like giant puddles of oil that just somehow magically appeared in the lawn of the museum, but of course the truth is they have been in this location for eons and the museum was built close to the tar pits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_wolf
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/c/canis-dirus-dire-wolf.html
Tant
Description coming soon…!
Anlop
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Anlop
Modern day name: Pronghorn antelope
Scientific Name: Antilocapra americana
Description: The anlop is easy to describe because it survived extinction and remains alive in North America today. The anlop is closely related to the goat rather than deer or elk. The horns are made of hair rather than the horn material of deer and elk. The anlop is a variety of colors with a tan body, white underbelly and legs and black markings on its head
Height at shoulder : 32 to 41 inches.
Height top of head: 55 inches not including horns.
Length, front to back not including tail: 4 – 5 ft.
Tail length: 6 – 8 inches
Weight: 75 – 110 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: Present day pronghorns live on the open plains and deserts of the West, from southern Saskatchewan to Northern Mexico, all the way east to Wisconsin. Fossil records of the anlop from the middle Holocene period, (before the late Pleistocene of the Arken series) have been found as far east as the Ozark highlands of Missouri. Since I have placed grasslands in the area not far west from the Florida coast, I have assumed that the anlop would have inhabited that area as they did the grasslands of Missouri long ago.
Predators: The chata, the American cheetah, now extinct, was the main predator of the anlop during Arken’s time. The anlop evolved to outrun the chatah, but with the chatah gone, the anlop is now the fastest land mammal in North America. Now their main predators are coyotes, golden eagles (these are eagles with an 8 ft. wingspan that can swoop down and pick up small pronghorns), bobcats, wolves and cougars.
Time it lived in North America: 2.5 million years ago to present day
How and what it ate: About 60 % of the anlop’s diet came from flowering prairie plants, another 15% came from grasses and the rest came from prairie shrubs.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Arken and Asher see the anlop often, but they are unable to get close enough to hit them with a bow and arrow.
Links to further research:
https://www.utep.edu/leb/pleistNM/taxaMamm/Antilocapridae.htm
http://zooarch.illinoisstatemuseum.org/content/past-environments
Arma
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name : Arma
Modern day name: Giant Armadillo
Scientific Name: Glyptodon
Description: The arma was as large as a modern-day Volkswagen Beetle and its shell had a shape similar to the beetle’s roof line. Its hard shell was made of sections of bony armour and it would have been difficult for predators to bite into.
Height at shell: 5 ft.
Height top of head: 2.5 ft.
Length, front to back including tail: 8.25 to 11.0 ft.
Tail length: 3 ft.
Weight: 1,800 to 2,000 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: South America up through Mexico and into the southern United States including Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
Time it lived in North America: 1.8 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, (10,000 BC)
How and what it ate: The arma had molar teeth at the back of its mouth and used its pointed beak to shred and tear a variety of plants. Then it would chew these plants with the back of its mouth.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Not sighted through book 5, The Valley of Death
Ban
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name : Ban
Modern day name: Buffalo
Scientific Name: Bison antiquus
Description: A muscular version of the modern day buffalo that was 30% bigger than today’s buffalo. It also had wide horns similar to those on Texas longhorn cattle.
Height at shoulder : 7.5 ft.
Height top of head: 6.5 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 15.6 ft.
Tail length: 1 ft.
Weight: 5,000 pounds. These buffalo were about 30% bigger than modern day buffalo’s.
Habitat and Range where it lived: All of North American where there was open grassland, from Canada to Mexico. Many of their skeletons can be seen at the La Brea Tar Pits.
Time it lived in North America: 240,000 yrs ago to 10,000 years ago, (8,000 BC)
How and what it ate: The ban lived entirely by grazing grass. The teeth of the ban were flat, like the teeth of the mammoth, the modern day buffalo and the elk. These animals used their teeth to grind down the coarse grass.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: The ban is a domesticated animal in the city of Lanth and a regular supply of red meat. Arken is familiar with the animal from growing up in Lanth, but through Book 5, The Valley of Death, he has yet to go out far enough on the yellowgrass plain to see a herd of ban.
Links for further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_antiquus
http://extinct-animals-facts.com/Extinct-Animals-List/Extinct-Bison-Antiquus-Facts.html
Bosk
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Bosk
Modern day name: Giant Beaver
Scientific Name: Castorides
Description: It is difficult to imagine a beaver that was 7 ft. long when today’s beaver is less than 2 ft. long. The huge black and brown freshwater dwelling mammal lived in much the same way as today’s beaver, consuming tree bark and leaves and living in dens made of wood gathered into a mound near a dam built by the beavers. They must have had a huge impact in creating ponds and lakes given their giant size and the amount of vegetation they would have had to eat to stay alive.
Height at shoulder:
Height top of head: 7 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 7 ft.
Tail length: 3-4 ft.
Weight: 200 to 300 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: All of Canada and the USA. Castoroides leiseyorum a slightly different type, lived only in Florida.
Time it lived in North America: 1.4 million years ago until the giant beaver went extinct about 10,000 years ago, 8,000 BC.
How and what it ate: The bosk was a vegetarian so it didn’t eat fish or any other animals. Instead, it used its 7 inch long front teeth to strip bark from trees. It survived on bark, fresh leaves, twigs and stems. Modern beavers prefer the bark of alder, aspen, birch, cottonwood, maple, poplar and willow. Water plants they ate included water lilies, rushes and the roots of cattails. They roll up lily pads with their front feet, making them into a “cigar” like shape. The diet of the bosk was probably very similar to that of the modern day beaver. Scientists are not sure if the bosk made dams like today’s beaver, though it was probably likely and they just can’t find any dams due to the amount of time that has gone by. Each fall, the beaver stockpiles sticks and other food under water and then they retreat into their lodge. They remain inside their lodge all winter except for when they swim out to their food supply and bring back a stick to munch on.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: In Shipwrecked, Arken has to cross the blackwater swamp and when he sees the head of a bosk coming towards him, he thinks it is a deadly klak about to eat him. Arken is so grateful when he realizes that although the bosk is gigantic, it doesn’t want to eat the cadets.
Links to further research:
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/c/castoroides.html
Bur
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Bur
Modern day name: Short faced bear
Scientific Name: Arctodus pristinus
Description: A giant, black bear that could reach up to a height of 15 ft. with its clawed front paws. It’s hard to imagine a more terrifying sight that one of these bears because their paws were so large in diameter that they were close to the width of a man’s chest.
Height at shoulder: When walking on all fours, the shoulder height was 5 ft.
Height top of head: When walking on all fours, the top of the head was 6.5 ft. When standing on only its hind legs, the top of the Bur’s head was 12 feet and the top reach of the claws was 15 ft.
Length: front to back not including tail: 8.5 to 9 ft.
Tail length: A few inches at most
Weight: 2,000 to 2,200 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Northern Mexico and up past Texas to Florida and north to New Jersey
Time it lived in North America: 1.8 million years ago to 11,000 years ago, (9,000 BC)
How and what it ate: Researchers are not sure if the Bur was a hunting carnivore, hunting and eating meat only, or an omnivore, surviving on a mix of scavenged meat and vegetation such as berries, which is typical food for the modern brown bear. The Bur was probably an omnivore, able to scavenge by chasing other predators away from their kills, such as chasing darwulfs, (dire wolves) from a fresh kill, or sword tooths from a recently killed mammoth. Also they could have hunted harses, (horses) because the Bur had excellent endurance while running close to 30 miles per hour.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: In Shipwrecked, the cadets are gathered around their fire at night and are performing the All Said for the Dead ceremony, where they remember their fellow cadets and sailors who have recently died. A short faced bur attacks and they retreat up a tree, only to find the bur is taller than they thought!
Links to more information:
Chata
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Chata
Modern day name: American Cheetah
Scientific name: Miracinonyx (Amazing cheetah)
Description: Similar to the modern cheetah, the Chata was also built for speed. Its face was shorter and its nasal cavities wider to allow more oxygen to enter the lungs. It is debated as to whether the American cheetah is related to the African cheetah, or is it more closely related to the modern day cougar. It could be a cougar that adapted to hunting the high-speed game of the open plains. The claws would not fully retract, meaning that they helped the animal to faster by digging into the ground with each stride.
Height at shoulder: 3.5 ft
Height top of head: 4 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 4.5 ft.
Tail length: 2 ft.
Weight: 150 – 210 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: All of North America
Time it lived in North America: 2.5 million years ago down to 10,000 BC
How and what it ate: The antelope, (Anlop) was the Chata’s main food source. The Antelope can run at 50 miles per hour, while the Cheetah could run up to 70 mph in short bursts. Since Antelope live on open grasslands the Cheetah would have to crawl slowly through short grass to get close enough to the antelope that when the cheetah began running, it’s higher speed would let it catch an antelope before the cheetah ran out of breath. The antelope could run fast, but it could do so with endurance, so the antelope could run for miles before stopping when they thought they were no longer being chased.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: They see the chatah hunting several times in the open grassland, but they are never attacked by the chatah and they don’t compete with the chatah for food since the
anlop would typically begin running away when a human got within less than two hundred yards.
Links to further research: http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/miracinonyx.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_cheetah
Hampr
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Hampr
Modern day name: Camel
Scientific name: Camelops
Description: The Hampr might have had one hump or two because soft tissues do not fossilize as well as harder tissue like bone. The general consensus is that the hampr had two humps because scientists have learned that single humped camels evolved from double humped camels and since these camels came along much earlier in the evolutionary chain, they are presumed to be the earlier two humped type. The camel and horse originated in North America and migrated into Eurasia. The hampr was about 20% bigger than the modern camels found in Africa today.
Height at top of its hump: 12 ft.
Height top of head: 14 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 16 ft.
Tail length: 4 ft.
Weight: 1,700 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: Southern North America
Time it lived in North America: 4 million years ago to 10,000 years ago which is about 8,000 BC.
How and what it ate: Like the Ton, (mastodon) it had pointed teeth so it was a general browser and could eat more than just grass, so it could eat tree leaves and bushes as well as grass.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Seen from a distance several times but they haven’t hunted one through book 5, The Valley of Death
Links to more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelops
Hyna
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Hyna
Modern day name: Short Faced Hyena
Scientific name: Chasmaporthetes
Description: Chasmaporthetes was a hyena that was built more like a dog than the hyenas of modern day Africa. The legs were long and slender like a cheetah and its teeth were like those of a cat, slender and sharp.
Height at shoulder: 3 ft.
Height top of head: 3.5 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 4-5 ft.
Tail length: 1 ft.
Weight: 100 – 130 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: The open plains of North America
Time it lived in North America: 4.9 million years ago to 780,000 years ago. I took liberties by extending the lifespan of the hyna substantially and placed it in the Arken series because the hyna was such a dangerous hunter. At least I thought I was not correct about how long this hyena survived in America until I found through my research that in the American west, there were legends about a wolf like animal called Shunka Wariken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunka_Warakin
One of these animals was shot in Montana in 1896 by Israel Ammon Hutchin. The animal was preserved by a taxidermist, Joseph Sherwood, and it was put on display in a store in Henry’s Lake, Idaho. The specimen was lost, then relocated in 2007 and placed in the Madison Valley Museum. This is a photograph of the stuffed animal and it resembles a hyena more than it does a dog or wolf. It would be interesting to test the DNA of this specimen and determine its closest relative. And who knows, perhaps there are still packs of hyna’s roaming the remote woods of the United States!
How and what it ate: The hyna probably ate prey similar to current hyenas in Africa, where they eat gazelles, so in America they probably ate deer, (gastag) and antelopes, (anlop).
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: The cadets have been lucky in the series through book 5, the Valley of Death, since packs of hyna’s hunt gastag and anlops in open areas and the cadets have been able to run to the safety of the trees when they hear the hyna’s howling.
Jalag
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Jalag
Modern day name: Giant jaguar
Scientific Name: Panthera onca augusta
Description: The jalag was a large cat, it was tan and spotted and could also be dark black. The jalag killed by crushing the skull of its prey because it had the most powerful bite of any cat living in the world.
Height at top of head: 3 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 6 ft.
Tail length: 2 ft.
Weight: 300 – 500 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Brazil to the states of Washington, USA and east to Tennessee and all woodlands between.
Time it lived in North America: 1.8 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, extinct 8,000 BC
How and what it ate: Thought to be a solitary hunter, the jalag could hunt gastag, anlops and other medium sized game. It could crush the shell of a turtle, and it would have had an easy time eating bosks, (giant beaver) and even moderately sized klaks, (alligators). They could hunt the klak when it was sunning on a riverbank and asleep. The jalag could sink its powerful teeth into the klak’s neck and the animal could not shake the jalag loose, nor could it reach the jalag to bite it. The jalag was also strong enough to climb into trees and hunt monkeys and even birds.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: One of the cadets is killed by a black jalag in Shipwrecked.
Links to further research: https://prehistoric-fauna.com/Panthera-onca-augusta
Klak
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Klak
Modern day name: Alligator
Scientific Name: Alligator mississippiensis
Description: A giant alligator that grew up to 20 – 25 ft. long. The alligator looked like an armored animal with pointed knobs protruding from the skin, nostrils and eyes that could provide breath and sight while the rest of the animal remained submerged. One fatal habit they had was to sun themselves and sleep on a riverbank, where jalags and panthers could pounce on the back of their neck and kill them, then drag them off to eat in the jungle.
Height at shoulder: 1.5 – 2.5 ft.
Height top of head: 2.5 -3.5 ft.
Length, front to back including tail: Longest modern day, 19 ft. 2 in. during Arken series they ranged up to 25 ft. long
Weight: 500 pounds maximum current era, 700 -900 pounds Arken era.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Southern Texas east to Florida, north to coastal North Carolina
Time it lived in North America: Alligators originated 300 million years ago and have survived to present day.
How and what it ate: Crabs, fish, snakes, turtles, deer and other smaller mammals while they are drinking fresh water.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: The cadets first see the klaks on the banks of the River Zash, then Arken and the cadets must swim klak infested waters at night to escape the Tookans in Tookan attack. Arken and Asher also see a large klak kill a sloh in Shipwrecked.
Links to further research:
https://ourplnt.com/worlds-top-six-biggest-prehistoric-crocodiles-ever-lived/
https://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/early-earth/larger-organisms/
https://www.prehistoricflorida.com/products.php?cPath=2_9&osCsid=fc1bc02bda12766e9ee56bb578abd6d8
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/listings/c.html
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/florida-vertebrate-fossils/species/alligator-mississippiensis
http://www.fossil-treasures-of-florida.com/american-crocodile.html
Lin
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Lin
Modern day name: American Lion
Scientific Name: Panthera Leo Atrox
Description: The Lin was similar to the modern-day lion of Africa but about 25% larger. The Lin was even larger than the Swordtooth, was not as powerfully built.
Height at shoulder: 4 – 5 ft.
Height top of head: 4.5 – 5.5 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 8 – 10 ft.
Tail length: 3 ft.
Weight: 850 –1,000 pounds, about 25% bigger than today’s African lion.
Habitat and Range where it lived: The plains of North America, from southern Alaska south to lower Mexico, and east to New York, then down to Florida.
Time it lived in North America: Two million years ago to 11,000 years ago, (9,000 BC)
How and what it ate: The lin ate deer, (gastag), horses, (harses), camels, (hampr), bison, (ban), mammoths, (toth) and mastodon, (ton). They could hunt alone or in packs.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: They are pursued by several lin in Book 2. Shipwrecked.
Links to further research:
http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/p/panthera-leo-atrox.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_lion
https://www.thoughtco.com/american-lion-panthera-leo-atrox-1093042
Orock
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name : Orock
Scientific Name: Coelodonta Antiquitatis
Description: This animal did not inhabit North America. However, I decided to include him in the world of Arken, because this work is fiction, the Orock is such a cool animal and I have also placed neanderthals in the Americas and no remains of this branch of the human race have been found in the Americas. Yet!
Modern day name: Wooly Rhinoceros
Height at shoulder: 6 – 7 ft.
Height top of head: 3 -4 ft.
Length, front to back including tail: 10 – 13 ft.
Weight: 4,000 – 6,000 pounds.
Habitat and Range where it lived: Europe and Asia, not N. America.
Time it lived in Europe and Asia: 3.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, (8,000 BC)
How and what it ate: The orock grazed on grasses and sedges
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Arken and Asher are chased by an Orock when they are getting wood to make bows for the Nanders.
Links to more research:
Picar
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Picar
Modern day name: Long Nosed Peccary
Scientific name: Mylohyus nasutus
Height at shoulder: 3-4 ft
Height top of head: 4-5 ft.
Length, front to back not including tail: 3.5 – 4.5 ft.
Tail length: 6-8 inches
Weight: 110 – 150 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: Woodlands and forests from east to west coast and from Canada to Central America
Time it lived in North America: The Picar is genetically related to similar peccary’s in Europe and Asia, so the theory is that they crossed the Bering Land Bridge during the times of the Ice Age when sea level was lower, so the animals could walk from present day Russia to Alaska and continue south. The earliest estimated time the Picar could have come to North America was probably about 35,000 years ago. They survived until around 7,000 BC, which would be 9,000 years before the current era.
How and what it ate: The picar was an omnivore, meaning it ate both plants and animals. It consumed mainly plant matter, but also ate birds eggs, mice, worms and insects. They competed with black bears, (Ursus americanus), for food and while the black bear survived to present day, the Picar did not.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: Arken and Asher hunt the picar in Shipwrecked when they venture into the tunnel through the brush used by the picar.
Links to further information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-nosed_peccary
Smoker
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Smoker
Modern day name: Meg (3 times larger than a Great White)
Scientific Name: Charcharadon Megaladon
Description: The largest shark to ever live, fossils of its teeth and jaws are so large, a modern day Volkswagen Beetle could pass through the open mouth with room to spare.
Height from bottom of lower fins to top of back fin: 23 ft
Diameter of body at thickest point: 13 ft/
Length, front to back : 60 ft.
Weight: 75,000 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: Like the great white shark, the smoker could live in almost any ocean environment, except possibly the frigid waters around the poles.
Time it lived in the world’s oceans: 23 million years ago to 3.6 million years ago. However, there were reports of a sighting of an enormous shark, estimated to be 60 ft. long, off New Zealand in 1918. The following account was written by David George Stead, a famous Australian biologist, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_George_Stead
“In the year 1918 I recorded the sensation that had been caused among the “outside” crayfish men at Port Stephens, when, for several days, they refused to go to sea to their regular fishing grounds in the vicinity of Broughton Island. The men had been at work on the fishing grounds—which lie in deep water—when an immense shark of almost unbelievable proportions put in an appearance, lifting pot after pot containing many crayfishes, and taking, as the men said, “pots, mooring lines and all”. These crayfish pots, it should be mentioned, were about 3 feet 6 inches [1.06 m] in diameter and frequently contained from two to three dozen good-sized crayfish each weighing several pounds. The men were all unanimous that this shark was something the like of which they had never dreamed of. In company with the local Fisheries Inspector I questioned many of the men very closely and they all agreed as to the gigantic stature of the beast. But the lengths they gave were, on the whole, absurd. I mention them, however, as a indication of the state of mind which this unusual giant had thrown them into. And bear in mind that these were men who were used to the sea and all sorts of weather, and all sorts of sharks as well. One of the crew said the shark was “three hundred feet [90 m] long at least”! Others said it was as long as the wharf on which we stood—about 115 feet [35 m]! They affirmed that the water “boiled” over a large space when the fish swam past. They were all familiar with whales, which they had often seen passing at sea, but this was a vast shark. They had seen its terrible head which was “at least as long as the roof on the wharf shed at Nelson’s Bay.” Impossible, of course! But these were prosaic and rather stolid men, not given to ‘fish stories’ nor even to talking about their catches. Further, they knew that the person they were talking to (myself) had heard all the fish stories years before! One of the things that impressed me was that they all agreed as to the ghostly whitish color of the vast fish. The local Fisheries Inspector of the time, Mr Paton, agreed with me that it must have been something really gigantic to put these experienced men into such a state of fear and panic.”
How and what it ate: Whales, (whuls), sea lions, seals, and a variety of fish.
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: A smoker attacks Han and almost eats Lar when the teacher rescues his student. Later at the end of SeaJourney we see the smoker eating nearly the entire crew of the Sea Nymph and the attack continues at the beginning of Shipwrecked.
Links to further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon
https://exemplore.com/cryptids/Is-the-Megalodon-Shark-Still-Alive
https://theportalist.com/megalodon-sightings-alleged
https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/could-megalodon-still-live-deep-ocean/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_George_Stead
Zarsas
Arken Freeth Series Animal Name: Zarsas
Modern day name: American Zebra
Scientific Name: Equus simplicidens
Description: An early horse that had stripes like the African Zebra, but it lived in North America. It was about the size of the modern day mustang, but it had a thicker neck like the African zebra. This is also referred to as the Hagerman horse since their fossils were discovered on the Hagerman ranch in the 1920’s and the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument is on the west bank of the Snake River, just west of Hagerman, about 100 miles southeast of Boise
Height at shoulder: 43 to 57 inches
Height top of head: 67 to 75 inches
Length, front to back not including tail: 8-9 ft.
Tail length: 18 inches
Weight: 250 to 850 pounds
Habitat and Range where it lived: Grasslands and floodplains
Time it lived in North America: 3.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago, 8,000 BC.
How and what it ate: Primarily ate grasses
Encounters in the Arken Freeth series: The cadets see hers of Zarsas on the yellowgrass plains but they haven’t hunted them as they are too swift to get close to and there is easier game to hunt.
Links to further research: