Indeed, this will be an interesting list having the names and little details of some animals that once lived on Earth years ago and have gone extinct. From fossil records, we know some animals, more recently, museum specimens and some videos captured before they disappeared.
Life began sometime before 3.5 billion years ago, and almost all of it is gone now. 3.5 billion years ago, the Earth was entirely different, and animals were entirely different as a result.
This list houses animals that have lived on Earth with humans. Either shamefully recently, or back when life was a nomadic struggle for survival. These animals existed alongside humans, and in most, if not all cases, disappeared because of them.
Finally, this also serves as a global warning or signal because human-led extinctions are still happening to this day, and without a rapid change in direction, there will be an updated list of new awesome animals to pile the already existing queue.
Let the show begin!
1. Yangtze River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)
Went extinct in the year 2006. The Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, had been left with no place to go. Its habitat was polluted, noisy, and infested with ship traffic, and the rapid industrialization of China had reduced it from 6000 individuals in 1950 to zero by 2006.
The end of this adorable creature represents the end of the entire family of Lipotidae; a 20-million-year branch of evolution from its most recent ancestors, gone forever.
2. Dodo (Raphus cucullatus)
Dodo was reported to have gone extinct in the year 1680, moreover, the most infamous extinction occurred during Charles II’s reign over England.
The Dodo was a large, pigeon-like flightless bird on the island, and having grown up with no threats whatsoever hadn’t learned to run away from big men with clubs.
4. Aurochs (Bos primigenius)
This cow was one of the biggest herbivores in Europe during the Holocene, at almost 2 meters tall at the shoulder and up to 700kg. They went extinct in the 1600s.
They occupied a range that spanned all of North Africa, Mesopotamia and Europe, and may have lived long enough to witness Galileo discovering the heliocentric solar system. As their numbers dwindled in Eastern Europe, hunting them became a privilege of the royal families.
By 1601, only 4 remained in Poland, and by 1627, the last one was dead.
5. Moa (Order, Dinornithiformes)
The extinction of this animal caused havoc and tension within people. Moa went extinct in the year 1440, having humans dominating New Zealand as at then, wiped out the last living Moas.
This flightless bird was almost 4 meters tall and weighed up to 230 kg. Being from an island with only one predator, it was not prepared for the invasion of humans countless times, so it diminished, along with numerous other species, within 100 years of human arrival.
Finally, a lot of moa remains exist, with good quality DNA still inside them. Because of this, it’s one of the top candidates for a revival by cloning.
6. Wooly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius)
Went extinct by 1670 BCE. These creatures are similar to African elephants with their colossal tusks and thick, woolly coats.
Most people will say that Woolly Mammoths died out 10,000 years ago. And this is partially true. Most did, but at least one small population held out for a lot longer on a Siberian island, where they became trapped by rising sea levels.
Unfortunately, it’s thought that there wasn’t enough genetic diversity to keep them healthy, and over time, low sperm count and illnesses like diabetes were too much to handle.
7. Ground Sloths (Order, Pilosa)
Extinct by 2200 BCE. These incredible beasts, close relatives of the modern-day sloths and anteaters, occupied 19 genera across the Americas. The most outstanding of all was Megatherium, a giant over six meters long and as heavy as an elephant.
But these were long gone, leaving behind smaller relatives like Neocnus, who remained in Central America and The Caribbean for thousands of years longer, until they were hunted to extinction by humans.
Around 1997 the last of the giant ground sloths shuffled their way to extinction.
8. Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus)
By 4800-4900 BCE, the Irish Elk had gone extinct. Around this time, the rapid human population increase from the Neolithic agricultural revolution began to stabilize and there was a healthy and tolerable global population of around 40 million people.
China began its cultivation of rice, Egypt acquired its 365-day calendar, and Europe saw the end of an iconic species of deer, one of the largest to have ever lived.
The Irish elk stood 2m tall at the shoulder and carried 40kg antlers, 4.4 meters across.
9. Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis)
The Woolly Rhinoceros experienced their extinction around 7000 BCE, around the same time humans slowed down their rampaging, nomadic lifestyles and began to develop agriculture. That was when the last of the Wooly rhinos roamed the earth.
They had short legs, a prominent hump behind the shoulder and a thick woolly coat; all fantastic adaptations to cold weather.
10. Megalania ‘The Giant Ripper Lizard’, (Varanus priscus)
The last on our list, is Megalania, the largest lizard to have ever lived. This monitor lizard was a lot like an even more giant Komodo dragon and could have reached lengths of seven meters, weighing up to two tons.
The arrival of human settlers on the island contributed to their extinction.
