In 2006, researchers uncovered 20,000-year-old fossilized human footprints in Australia, indicating that the hunter who created them was running at roughly 37 km/h (23 mph)—the pace of a modern Olympic sprinter—while barefoot and traversing sandy terrain.

[u/Dynastyisog]

[u/Felsig27]

Lot of assumptions here. The hunter who created them sounds nice. Creates this image of prehistoric man using super human strength to bring down massive pray and feed his clan.

Meanwhile, 20,000 years ago, Thag Simmons was going for a nice morning walk on the beach when suddenly he found himself running faster than any man in history trying to stay ahead of the 14 foot prehistoric spider that just blindsided him.

[u/JMHSrowing → u/Felsig27]

Fur better or worse, there has never actually been a spider anywhere near that big, in Australia or otherwise, so far as the fossil record recalls in all of time.

. . . However it does have ample evidence for a lot of other nasty things.

Monitor lizards that make the Komodo Dragon look small, fully terrestrial crocodiles, the marsupial lion, and more.

Most would have been extinct by 20,000 years ago, but some would have still been around like some of the now extinct varied crocodilians

[u/Calber4 → u/JMHSrowing]

Or a 3 meter tall flightless duck

[u/[deleted] → u/Calber4]

they’d lose a war to them too tbf

[u/Jaikarr → u/Calber4]

Ah yes, the Moby Duck

[u/[deleted] → u/Calber4]

Finally, the perfect use for a punt gun, instead of harvesting an entire flock of ducks at once, you just have to take down this big bastard.

[u/Claystead → u/Calber4]

Menacing quacks on the horizon, quickly getting louder…

[u/kikimaru024 → u/Calber4]

At least they were (probably) herbivores.

[u/detailsubset → u/Calber4]

How big were the horses?

[u/NewZJ → u/Calber4]

https://youtu.be/0y4zPFJOLjg