Tarrasque
The tarrasque was a monstrous beast of gargantuan size, unrivaled by anything in its time or since. While only one complete set of fossilized remains has been discovered, archeologists have extrapolated from remains of other ancient beasts that at one point, as many as six tarrasques wandered The World. Thankfully, all are long dead by now.
The largest carnivore to ever be discovered, this creature was capable of devouring most of the beasts contemporary to it in a single bite. Rows of dagger-length teeth could serrate flesh easily, its 2.5m claws made for deadly weapons. Its bony carapace has been partially preserved as well - rows of large spikes surrounded by smaller bone plates protected it from most anything that could have wished it harm. The creature seems to have been capable of surprising mobility, with well developed leg bones that allowed for full mobility, and a long tail that acted as a balance and rudder. This physique seems nearly impossible to support without copious amounts of magic in its bloodstream at all times.
With so much of its anatomy devoted to perfectly hunting and killing, it surprised archeologists to discover how small its brain was, and how undeveloped its senses must have been. It seems the tarrasque relied primarily on smell to track its prey and navigate the World of its day, as its eyes were tiny and hearing extremely poor. The layers of bone on its body most likely damped its sense of touch as well.
Though some have attempted to draw connections between ancient myths of behemoth creatures and the discovery of the tarrasque, the timeframe between early sapient species telling oral myths and the existence of this terrifying beast makes this hypothesis unlikely. The only complete remains of a tarrasque are located in the Luneburg Institute Museum of History.
EXTINCT
Average Height
40 m
Average Weight
30 tons (projected)
Average Length
160 m
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