Old vs New

Could present day lifeforms compete with the prehistoric life of the past?

>>2 depends on a lot of things.
But what do you mean by compete? I don't think you mean in Olympic games, gambling or drinking competitions, I think you mean compete in terms of population or in a 1v1 battle to the death, star-trek style.

now, if man is allowed to use man-made technology we beat all other lifeforms, hands-down.

T-Rex? machine gun
Pterodactyl? machine gun
Caveman? machine gun
Giant fish? machine gun
Jesus? machine gun
Godzilla? machine gun

If we aren't allowed to use anything other than our bare hands, then we may still win the majority of battles due to our intelligence.

I think that a modern day Tiger or Liger would beat the Sabretooth tiger; recent studies have shown that the Sabretooth tigers skull is not as capable of generating or withstanding as much force that a modern day tiger's can.
But remember, these creatures went extinct for a reason hence our modern day friends may have an advantage.

example:
horse vs raptor..3..2...1...GO!
The raptor stalks the horse, from downwind as to not alert it. As the horse lowers it's head to taste some delicious fresh grass the raptor closes in. The raptor picks up speed as the distance closes. The horse notices the raptor just in time. The horse whirls around and grabs the raptor between its mighty legs. It's a bearhug. The raptor can't breathe, it's ribcage shatters and the raptor drops to the floor, lifeless.
The horse rips out the raptors heart and feasts upon the bloody goodness.
VICTORY!111111111!!!

This is a very generalized question, and the answer is: it depends, on the kind life forms, the time, the environment and other circumstances. Many primitive organisms, like most bacteria and protozoa, have not changed significantly since the prehistoric time. The genetic changes in most invertebrates like insects are also rather insignificant. However, an important factor that has change significantly are the environmental circumstances: Today's creatures would clearly have an advantage in today's world, while prehistoric life would have severe disadvantages, and vice versa. In the special case of humans, there was a technological and cultural evolution in addition to the biological one. If you asked me whether humans with the knowledge and skill of today were able to compete with dinosaurs or not, my answer would definitely be yes, but if you asked me whether or not a Homo sapiens raised among a group of Homo erectus would be able to survive in a prehistoric world, I would be not so sure. However, a good example for such a competition is Australia, where "modern" mammals successfully compete with the rather primitive marsupials, which have not changed very much since prehistoric time.

>>2 here, I'd just like to say I was mistaken about the machine gun vs Godzilla thing, it doesn't work - it just pisses him off, which causes the stamping, the dying, the explosions and the screaming.

moral of the story: don't piss Godzilla off

>>2
Without anything, humans would almost certainly get pwnd in 1v1 fights with other creatures.  If it was 10v1 or were allowed to use sticks/stones in the environment, then humans would have a much better chance at survival.

>>4
1 megaton thermonuclear device >>> all.

we would win, because saying what ever animal has big teeth is the same as saying humans have big brains. so if they are allowd to bite us we are allowd to use guns

>>5

I think what >>2 said "(just) our bare hands" he was imagining humans designing <u>The Most Dangerous Game</u> style booby traps or slapping together a pointy rock tied to a stick.

>>1

That depends what you mean by compete.  Would a mountain lion be able to taken on a Velociraptor in a 1v1 fight?  Not likely.  The same goes for a lot of prehistoric creatures.

However, most of those prehistoric critters couldn't compete with present day animals when it came to survival of the fittest.  The last 50,000-10,000 years of evolution has favored smaller creatures who require less resources to live.  Most long extinct life forms would starve out fairly quickly.

sage