The world of dinosaur tribute videos has been unearthed and these oddities feature nostalgia drenched 2000s rock hits. An unlikely pairing, these lengthy videos pay homage to beasts and songs of a forgotten time.

In 1892, paleontologist Joseph Frederick Whiteaves discovered an ancient super creature  —  the Anomalocaris. Fast forward 117 years and this massive underwater beast is paired with Amy Lee's iconic vocals on the mall-goth anthem “Bring Me to Life.”

Evanescence won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock performance for this 2000s rock cornerstone, but they are now introducing YouTube dwellers to the beauty of this extinct massive shrimp.

The lineage of YouTube tribute videos spans many eras of ancient animals, but this specific digitized shrine is the holy grail of Internet oddities. “Tribute to anomalocaris” has garnered over 600,000 views as of July 2020, with an explosion in views within the past few months.

Uploaded in April of 2009, this video is one of many that highlights beasts from a bygone era in a variety of ways — there are hand-drawn portraits, grainy scientific photos and bulgy claymation renderings of the underwater creature.

Clicking through the decade-old tribute videos, the majority are soundtracked by hard rock. Close your eyes and you’ll be transported to your local county fair, gripping a cold Monster Energy can, donning your Fox flat brim, and singing along to the county’s only Creed cover band.

With eyes wide open, you’ll see YouTuber zygarde legendary’s tribute video to the iconic flying monsters, pterodactyls. Hold onto that energy drink because this 2013 upload is over nine minutes long and kicks off with Creed’s megahit “Higher.”

Scientifically, yes, Pterodactyls could “take you higher.” They could also shred you apart with their razor-sharp talons. Notable long-distance flyers, they could fly 80mph for up to 12,000 miles in one stint. In other words, in the time it takes you to listen to Creed’s entire discography 43 times non-stop, these prehistoric jet-planes have taken their first break.

The second half of this tribute video takes a heavier twist as “Tear Away,” a 2001 single from the nu-metal, alt-rock lifers Drowning Pool, backdrops the rotating spit of Shutterstock dinosaur pics.

That same YouTuber, has uploaded a vast library of tributes. In their 2013 offering “My Theropoda Dinosaurs Tribute,” they once again dip into the Drowning Pool via their signature single, “Bodies.”

Upon further review, their catalog features 21 breeds of dinosaurs, 25 videos averaging eight minutes apiece, with “Bodies'' being played 18 times. This user has concocted a mind-numbing science, melding butt rock, Shutterstock and pixelated images of now-extinct carnivorous reptiles.

Another favorite includes this tribute to an allosaurus with a broken jaw. This tribute pulls scenes from a poorly aged 2011 docuseries, combining CGI mishaps and a loose narrative built around Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” proving that predators truly do walk alone.

Another admirable contender is the 2009 video “A Sabertooth Cat Tribute.” The disclaimer that it’s a tribute to Sabertooth cats, not Sabertooth tigers, alongside the opening riff to Three Day Grace’s “Overrated” mesmerized me. Listening to Adam Gontier raspily beg you to “go away” alongside a hand-drawn, 100 percent anatomically incorrect picture of this extinct creature solidified this video’s importance in the genre’s history.

These tributes offer a blissful calm. Like listening to a white noise or following prompts from mindfulness apps, the repeated grunting vocals and a mishmash of dino-snapshots erase all stress. Tribute videos harken to the early days of YouTube, where things were simpler.

YouTube user Deadly SP commented on the Anomalocaris tribute video pointing out that it is a proto-shitpost. They noted that “unlike the shitposts of today, this is unironically a pleasant viewing experience.”

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Similar to their tangible counterparts buried deep in the Earth’s crust, these relics deliver metric tons of hot air with every chugging chord.

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