ANCIENT MARINE ANIMALS

Strange creatures have inhabited our oceans for over half a billion years, and fossilised remains in rocks have revealed their existence and led to fascinating discoveries.

Here are 5 weird ancient sea creatures:

These ocean-dwelling arthropods resembled modern-day scorpions but were significantly larger—even bigger than humans.

These marine reptiles roamed the world's oceans, devouring nearly anything that crossed their path—including other mosasaurs.

This fierce arthropod was among the world’s earliest apex predators. It was a claw-faced sea predator from the Cambrian period.

A shark-like fish with a spiral jaw inhabited the oceans from the Devonian to the Triassic period.

These marine reptiles, which had boat-shaped bodies with four flippers, went extinct alongside non-avian dinosaurs at the close of the Cretaceous period.