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People Compare How Aliens Would Reconstruct Animals Based On Their Skulls Vs. What They Really Look Like (28 Pics)
About 500 million years ago, not a single creature had a skull. Over time, these bony plates evolved into the structural marvels that vertebrates—animals with spinal cords, aka you, me, and your pug, carry around today.
In fact, skulls are such complex wonders of nature that when viewed alone, they do look like they belonged to some distant, fabulous creatures. And that alone is enough to give the internet quite a rich source of memesy inspiration.
This time, people are imagining what aliens would reconstruct if they came across the skulls of some of the most loved residents on our planet, like cats, dogs, and wild cutie pies. Scroll down to see the hilarious results, but beware—it may reveal that your chonky catto is a Tyrannosaurus rex in disguise.
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#1
leona s 5 years ago
but, maybe to aliens their version would be cute and real cats frightening?
MRK 5 years ago
Any alien worth their weight in dilithium crystals would look at those orbital sockets and know this was a big eyed cute fur ball, not that beady eyed monster
Susanne B 3 years ago
But cats close their eyes sometimes, just like this monster
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Csaba Hegedűs 5 years ago
The eyes totally wouldn't be where they are. I have a feeling that OP just looked for a random alien concept art with somewhat similar teeth.
White Wolf 5 years ago
You know what, I am not sure that the alien's version wouldn't be closer to the truth....
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#2
François Carré 5 years ago
Well, an alligator's skull with flesh and skin still looks like a skull, so...
Zena Marsh 3 years ago
I must remember that phrase when I watch 'Swamp People'.
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#3
Kathy Baylis 5 years ago
Don’t worry, that animal loses the lower set by the time they reach adolescence. Unfortunately, decades later many of them have lost the second set too...
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SeidWolf 5 years ago
Ok, so i know we're born with all our teeth, but never visualized how horrifying this might look.. i cannot unsee this.
Janine B. 5 years ago
We're not born with all of our teeth. It's the skull of a child age 5-6.
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Lil’ Twister 5 years ago
They’re both baby and adult teeth. Kids have “adult teeth” in jawbones waiting to pop out
Michelle 5 years ago
Legit question... the alien remake: if they used an actual human skull for reconstruction, even a child's skull that had all the teeth, why would the reconstruction be all pointy fang teeth? That's not what's in the skull that's shown, right? Or am I missing why the creepy clown thing is the outcome? I don't understand how humans would come out looking like a shout out to the snake-clowns from the Lego Batman Movie. Lol
Ela 2 years ago
The creepy clown is from a horror movie. Closest they could come without doing their own art, I guess?
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Andrew Gibb 5 years ago
worth noting that the skull has been cut away to allow you to see all the teeth waiting to come through childskull...4cabcc.jpg 
Bored Panda reached out to Ashley Mason-Burns-Meerschaert, the director of education at Skeletons: Museum of Osteology, who told us more about these incredible bones. It turns out, the vertebrates with the most bones in their skulls are bony fish, which can have over 100 in their skulls.
Although skulls from different species might look similar, there will be slight differences. Ashley said that “some species of shrews and rodents can only be identified by looking at dental variations under a microscope.”
There is also some skull variation between individuals of the same species and also between males and females, which scientists refer to as “sexual dimorphism.”
Ashley said that animals' skulls can change over time for various reasons, like becoming more adapted to the environment, changing due to animals' diet, or because of injuries sustained over their lifetime.
#4
Titas Burinskas 5 years ago
Hippopotamuses are underrated in terms of how horrifyingly powerful they are.
Cori 5 years ago
No kidding! They are one of the most deadly animals in Africa.
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Evripidou Maria 5 years ago
reminds me of the "skin wrapping" term and why we could be illustrating dinosaurs completely wrong
meepcat 5 years ago
See tumblr posts ...T Rexes could have been chub chonks
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Heather Vandegrift 3 years ago
They got the true nature of the animal right, so it's outside would match the inside
Bolovo de Carvalho 4 years ago
If you can tank the portuguese simultaneous translation, check out: https://youtu.be/8TPPFcZpCbA
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Jace 5 years ago
Xenomorph just means “alien shape”. The creature shouldn’t be referred to by that word as if it was a proper name. Call it “Giger’s Alien” if you want a non-universe name. There’s no proper “in-universe” name unless the comics gave it one (and “xenomorph” might in fact have been promoted by the comics, but it’s still a nonsensical name that applies to ANY non-terrestrial life).
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Samantha Lomb 5 years ago
Otters aren't called "River wolves" for no reason. They are only cute cause we are too big to kill and eat
Jude Samson 3 years ago
Not far off though considering how murderously dangerous and nasty otters are
#6
François Carré 5 years ago
That hole in the front could be the origin of the Cyclope myth : when ancient Greeks discovered elephant or mammuth skulls and didn't know what they were because these animales had disappeared from their lands, they imagined the skulls had belonged to one-eyed giants.
Evripidou Maria 5 years ago
interestingly the myth of Polyfimos, the cyclops giant, could have started from an elephant skull
Phoneixstudios 3 years ago
the ancient greeks thought cyclops were real because of elephant skulls
JT Kenneally 5 years ago
In fairness to the aliens, humans also mistook elephant skulls for cyclops skulls
Grace Smith 5 years ago (edited)
I mean its understandable that greeks found skeletons of elephants and thought “CYCLOPS”
It’s incredible how much we can tell about an animal just by looking at these bony structures that support and protect soft tissues and organs.
For example, some particular skull features can indicate the nature of an animal. Wired suggests that “Big eye sockets point to a nocturnal lifestyle (big eyes harvest more light).”
Meanwhile, “giant canine teeth indicate a taste for flesh” and “lightweight bone riddled with air pockets is an adaptation for life on the wing.”
#7
Mainecoonsandhuskies 5 years ago
me too. but there is a reason they are the ones called killer whales
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George-Florin Constantin 5 years ago
Orcas are freakin' vicious predators. Probably the most sadistic predators in the seas.
Samantha Wirral 5 years ago
....water panda....? I've never heard that one before! 😂😂😂😂
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#8
Fernleaf6505 5 years ago (edited)
why is everything supposed to be ferocious but actually so ADORABLE
Lois Frith 5 years ago
It's a Quokka. A small Australian marsupial. Took me ages to find it online. Lol. The cutest aye
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June Galloway 5 years ago
after looking at these pictures it makes you wonder if dinosaurs' were as fierce as they were made to look .
BoredPundits 5 years ago
It's a Quokka, Kate. They are an Australian marsupial found on islands off the Western Australian coast - mainly on Rottnest Island. They are extremely friendly and colloquially known as the happiest animals on earth for their adorable smiles! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka
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Kisses4Katie 5 years ago
No, it would just be displayed in a museum- "look what those mad scientists did to the majestic wolf!"
Randy Klefbeck 5 years ago
I see why those poor dogs have breathing problems.
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TrashPandaru 5 years ago
This type of breeding should be banned, the poor things suffer horrible health conditions because of it
CharliAnn Olney 5 years ago
Poor Puggies. Look at old paintings of them. They are not supposed to look like this!
Martha Meyer 5 years ago
Anyone contemplating getting a pug should be shown this skull first so they can see what cruel breeding that actually is.
BoredPundits 5 years ago
Yes, they can't breathe properly, poor little things. They shouldn't be able to breed them like that, just because it's "fashionable".
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Another incredible aspect of skulls is just how complex they truly are. Imagine—a human skull has 22 bones. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it features 8 cranial bones and 14 facial bones. When a baby is born, the forehead, or frontal, bone is separated in two, but it fuses while growing.
And now let’s take an alligator. This reptilian has around 53 skull bones, which is more than twice what we have. But it's far from the most skull bones found in an animal.
#10
#11
Sinkvenice 5 years ago
Whomever owns that cat should be charged with animal abuse and neglect and shouldn't be allowed to have pets for a certain amount of time as punishment for allowing it to get so vast. I hope its seen a vet since this photograph was taken. It could have a myriad of health problems.
#12
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 5 years ago
- thought the monster in the second pic. ;-) (also - those teeth are mean once hooked into your hand...)
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Demongrrrrl 5 years ago
Hamsters and gerbils must always have something to gnaw on, otherwise their teeth would grow through their akulls.
#13
Mary Rose Kent 5 years ago
I once came face-to-face with a coyote in Golden Gate Park, in an area that was off the road but was commonly used as a walkway for most people. I think we were both a little stunned.
#14
JuJu 5 years ago
Dogma: "...remember: even God has a sense of humor. Just look at the Platypus. Thank you and enjoy the show. P.S. We sincerely apologize to all Platypus enthusiasts out there who are offended by that thoughtless comment about the Platypi. We at View Askew respect the noble Platypus, and it is not our intention to slight these stupid creatures in any way."
Bacony 5 years ago
It's the "WTF" of the Cambrian brought into the Quaternary for your enjoyment.
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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
What makes platypi even more bizarre and slightly more terrifying is the fact that the males have venomous spurs on their legs. When the venom isn't lethal to humans, it is supposedly excruciatingly painful. The venom is being looked into as a potential treatment for diabetes mellitus.
Shelly Graham 2 years ago
When I found out that male Platypus we're venomous I kept thinking, it's a beaver+duck+otter+snake.. WHY GOD, WHY?
#15
BoredPundits 5 years ago
The Seal of Doom! Particularly, if that's a Leopard Seal. They are scary AF. https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/danger-beneath-the-water-10-facts-about-leopard-seals
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arthi the spino 4 years ago (edited)
Lol the aliens woud think that woud be an king guidorah skull xD
Randy Klefbeck 5 years ago
Many moons ago in San Francisco CA, U.S., they had an exhibit at the natural science museum featuring a veritable cornucopia of skulls. Lot of hype ...but entirely true. It was amazing to the point of being overwhelming. Until.......I came to an area featuring sea lion's skulls. And then......later.....I came to an area that had bear skulls. Nearly identical in every way, if there was an exception, it was in the sinus area which in the bear's case, was completely unhinged with so many small bony diversions forming a matrix of tiny little bone spurs ....I don't remember exactly but, the sea lions was not much different in that area either.
#17
#18
BoredPundits 5 years ago
My first thought was, "that owl's skull looks like a tree", and then I scrolled further and realised that it *was* a tree!
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Nikolai Buscho 3 years ago
That might be like a walnut shell or something. But way back when, there was this "bone" that was believed to be the wing bone of a Quetzalcoatlus, but it turned out to be a petrified tree trunk.
#19
IwiLLsTeaLyOuRsoUl 5 years ago
Y'see, this kind of thing is what make me believe we are probably completely wrong about how dinosaurs looked like. In our imagination, t-rexes are ginormous,terrifying reptilian monsters when in reality they could've been totally different.
egracec 5 years ago
Does this mean the wild bunnies hopping around my property are just little tiny velociraptors?
fubukifangirl 5 years ago
You have to wonder how many dinosaurs would look the way scientists have pictured them.
Lorraine R 2 years ago
Scientists are always revising their depictions of live extinct critters as more information becomes available.
Load More Replies... TheCrazyBunnyLady 1 year ago
Bunnies are perfectly adorable, right up until the moment they yawn and you see those needle-thin super sharp teeth.
#20
Kathy Baylis 5 years ago
Yeah, but the alien reconstruction would never ever be able to make that cute little face!
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alwaysMispelled 5 years ago
It's an Aye-Aye, they're nocturnal and they live in Madagascar, I believe.
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#21
Regina Phalange 5 years ago
the dog could not care less that it was being compared to a... that
#22
Pobin Rice 5 years ago
If you are rabbit the ferret/stoat/ weasel is as terrifying as the aliens creation
Kelly Driscoll 5 years ago
Weasels are adorably vicious... They dance like maniacs to disorient their prey, which is sometimes 3x their size, and then bite through the spinal cord to kill it.
TuxCat13 5 years ago
Why do ferret-like animals all have elongated skulls? That's one thing I found in common which doesn't make much sense since their heads are so small.
Alan Smith 5 years ago
"ferret- like animals" are known as the Mustelidae family. otters, ferrets, minks, stoats, badgers, honey badgers, polecats, and martens.
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#23
Janine Hunt-Jackson 5 years ago
Wow, what an interesting skull for a chameleon. I wonder about the mass of bone on the top of its head; doesn't look like there's room for it!
#24
Hendra Lim 5 years ago
maybe it's a nocturnal animal, most of them has big eyes
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Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
Those are some mighty impressive eye sockets you got there.
#25
Catlady6000 5 years ago
It's cause they ARE the alien overlords we've been looking for
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#26
The Random Merp 5 years ago
For those who don't know, the reconstruction is of a Psittacosaurus, also known as that one dinosaur that will friggin tear you limb from limb and eat your fingers if you get near it's young
Susan Reid Smith 5 years ago
I don't want to mess with a male elephant seal! Seeing them trumpet and fight is scary!
#27
Kathy Baylis 5 years ago
Kinda looks like a TMNT that went over to the Dark Side.
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#28
Zoltán Végh 5 years ago
The "ancient evil lizard" from the Kong: Skull island.
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Caroline Overill 5 years ago
Having looked at all these pictures I am now wondering if dinosaurs are big cute fluffy dudes
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Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Why are the reconstructions big and ugly? Why are creatures from other planets almost always ugly in films? We have no idea what they would look like so why could they not be attractive or at least presentable.
Daria B 5 years ago
I agree. This is why Star Trek and Star Wars are so good. They value the diversity. Also, in Japanese cartoons they often look cute and fluffy. Or just like us Earthlings.
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Hendra Lim 5 years ago
from the leopard gecko to a titan like in the King kong movies? i'll say it's thousands time bigger
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Shinobi Shabby 5 years ago
But why? Under what sort of conclusions would they re-create them that way?
Alex Boyd 5 years ago
In other reconstructions like these that I've seen, the assumptions are basically the same as those that are usually when reconstructing what a dinosaur or other fossil animal looked like--basically, that the outline of the body conforms to the outline of the skeleton, that any prominent and mysterious structure was probably defensive/offensive, and that they were dull in color and lacked coverings like feathers or fur.
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Lindsay Ameye 5 years ago
In other words dinosaurs must have been fluffy cuties based on their skeletons
Robert Jarvis 5 years ago
Putting the "alien" bit aside, it's pretty cool to see that the cuter the animal, the more killy teeth it often has!
Grumble O'Pug 5 years ago
The person who came up with this must have flunked biology and assumes everyone else did too. Wow. Incredibly bad job
Daria B 5 years ago
Turns out.... they were all just a bunch of huge chickens! ♡
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Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Why are the reconstructions big and ugly? Why are creatures from other planets almost always ugly in films? We have no idea what they would look like so why could they not be attractive or at least presentable.
Daria B 5 years ago
I agree. This is why Star Trek and Star Wars are so good. They value the diversity. Also, in Japanese cartoons they often look cute and fluffy. Or just like us Earthlings.
Load More Replies... Hendra Lim 5 years ago
from the leopard gecko to a titan like in the King kong movies? i'll say it's thousands time bigger
Load More Replies... Shinobi Shabby 5 years ago
But why? Under what sort of conclusions would they re-create them that way?
Alex Boyd 5 years ago
In other reconstructions like these that I've seen, the assumptions are basically the same as those that are usually when reconstructing what a dinosaur or other fossil animal looked like--basically, that the outline of the body conforms to the outline of the skeleton, that any prominent and mysterious structure was probably defensive/offensive, and that they were dull in color and lacked coverings like feathers or fur.
Load More Replies... Lindsay Ameye 5 years ago
In other words dinosaurs must have been fluffy cuties based on their skeletons
Robert Jarvis 5 years ago
Putting the "alien" bit aside, it's pretty cool to see that the cuter the animal, the more killy teeth it often has!
Grumble O'Pug 5 years ago
The person who came up with this must have flunked biology and assumes everyone else did too. Wow. Incredibly bad job
Daria B 5 years ago
Turns out.... they were all just a bunch of huge chickens! ♡
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