Extinct Animals Facts ~ Easy and Interactive Learning

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Extinct Animals Facts

Tasmanian Wolf or Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus

The Tasmanian Wolf is not a wolf, but a carnivorous marsupial and a relative of wombats and kangaroos. It even has a pouch. Tasmanian officials promoting ranching paid bounties to hunters. Believed to be extinct for well over half a century, unconfirmed reported sightings persist.

English Wolf

The wolf became extinct in England in 1486, Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770.

Quagga

Quagga, Equus burchelli quagga, of the Karoo Plains and southern Free State of South Africa were a subspecies of the Burchellâ€™s Zebra, although their unique appearance wouldn't necessarily make this apparent. Some thought incorrectly that the Quagga was the female of Burchell's Zebra, probably because the natives gave both zebras the same name.

In the wild, Quaggas, Ostriches and Wildebeests often grazed together in what was termed the "triple alliance". The Quagga's hearing, the Ostrich's eyesight and the Wildibeast's keen sense of smell comprised excellent defense from predators for the entire herd. However, its limited range made it all the more vulnerable and Quaggas were hunted to the brink of extinction in the mid 19th Century by settlers razing sheep, goats and other livestock. The last Quagga died in in 1883 in an Amsterdam Zoo.

Turanian Tiger, Caspian Tiger

Caspian Tigers lived in China, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. They were hunted for their furs and to protect livestock. A ban on hunting the Caspian Tiger in the USSR in 1947 followed their greatest destruction in the 1930s. The last Caspian Tiger reported shot was in 1957.

Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's Sea Cow was discovered in the Aleutian Islands by George Steller while exploring with Vitus Bering in 1741. They grew as large as 35 feet long and weighed up to three-and-a-half tons. Sailors ate their meat and used their leather. They were easily killed and vanished from their only home within 30 years after Steller's discovery.

Steller's Sea Cow Drawn by George Steller

Spectacled Cormorant, Pallas' Cormorant

Also discovered in the Aleutian Islands by George Steller while exploring with Vitus Bering in 1741. The Spectacled Cormorant was extinct within about a century.

Dodo, Roland Savery

In 1505, Portuguese explorers discovered the island of Mauritius and the 50 lb flightless Dodos which supplemented their food stores. Imported pigs, monkeys and rats fed on the Dodo's eggs in their ground nests. The last Dodo was killed in 1681.

Irish Deer

Herds of the Giant Irish Deer lived in Europe and Ireland during the late Pleistocene until about 10,000 or 11,000 years ago. It stood six feet high at its shoulders, the size of Moose, and its broad antlers spanned ten feet.

Cave Bear

The Cave Bear lived in Europe during the Pleistocene (1.8 million years ago to 11,000 years ago) from 500,000 years ago until 10,000 years ago. Their remains have been found in caves where they lived and early humans left their drawings on cave walls. When upright, they stood 12 feet tall.

Saber Tooth Tiger

Saber tooth tigers lived in Europe and North America. They were fast runners for short distances and probably ambushed their prey in packs. The Hoplophoneus species lived 20 million years ago. The Smilodon species lived during the Pleistocene from 1.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago when it became extinct.

Saber Tooth Tiger

Cave Lion

Cave Lions were the largest cat that ever lived, larger than modern day lions, almost 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Paintings of have been found in caves of Europe and Asia, and even an ivory sculpture. Some migrated to North America 100,000 years ago. They became extinct around 10,000 years ago.

Wooly Rhinoceros, Charles R. Knight, Men of the Old Stone Age, 1916

Wooly Rhinoceros, Coelodonta

The Wooly Rhinoceros lived in the tundra of Europe and Asia as recently as 10,000 years ago. It ate grasses and other plants, was 11 feet long, weighed 2400 lbs, and was hunted by humans.

Pleistocene Moose Crovalces that lived in New Jersey

Crovalces a Pleistocene Moose that lived in North America

Moeritherium

Moeritherium lived in North Africa about 50 million years ago in the Miocene. They stood little more than two feet tall and likely ate water plants in ponds similarly to hippopotamuses.

Palaeomastodon

Palaeomastodons stood little more than 6 feet tall and lived from around 30 to 34 million years ago.

Trilophodon Four tusked Mastodon

The Trilophodon stood over 8 feet tall and lived in Africa, Europe, Asia and North America from the Miocene (26 million years ago) to the Pleistocene epoch (2 million years ago) .

Tetrabelodon

Tetrabelodon lived in North Africa, Europe and Asia during the Miocene (24 million to 5 million years ago) and the early Pliocene (5 million to 1.8 million years ago). Tetrabelodons had four tusks and one species stood more than 15 feet tall.

Dinotherium

The Dinotherium lived in Europe, Africa and Asia from around 20 million years ago to around just a few million years ago in the Miocene and the Pliocene periods.

Long Jawed Mastodon

Long Jawed Mastodons stood about 4 1/2 ft high, had four tusks and lived in the Oligocene epoch (from about 33.7 to 23.8 million years ago), part of the Tertiary Period in the Cenozoic Era.

During the Oligocene epoch, the first Mastodons lived in Africa and their larger descendants spread over Asia, Europe and finally to Northern America about 15 million years ago in the Miocene (23.8 to 5.3 million years ago.) The last Long-jawed Mastodons lived in North America and became extinct near the end of the Pleistocene (1.8 million to 11,000 years ago)

Mastodon

American Mastodons lived about 15 million years ago and became extinct about 6,000 years ago. They stood about 10 feet tall, ate grass, leaves and water plants of the lowlands and swamps which they roamed.

Southern Mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis

The Southern Mammoth lived in Europe and Asia in the late Pliocene from about 2.5 to 3 million years ago and migrated to North America in the early Pleistocene around 1.8 million years ago. It stood about 14 ft at the shoulder

Hairy Mammoth

The Hairy Mammoth stood about 12 feet tall, lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistociene and became extinct as recently as from 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Mammoths were hunted during the stone age and Cro-Magnon people painted Mammoth images on cave walls.

Straight Tusked Elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus

Remains of this 400,000 year old elephant have been found in England which would have been twice the size of the largest modern African elephant. One in particular was found with flint tools which may indicate it was hunted and eaten by humans.

Wooly Mammoth

The Woolly Mammoths were about 11 feet tall and lived in the Arctic Regions of Europe, Asia and North America in the Pleistocene (1.8 million to 11 thousand years ago) and became extinct between 5000 and 10,000 years ago.

Mammoth Cave Paintings

Giant Kangaroos

Giant Kangaroos and Wombats as large as modern rhinos once lived in Australia.

Giant Australian Marsupial Diprotodon

The Giant Australian Marsupial, Diprotodon, looked like a giant Wombat and lived from 1,600,000 to 40,000 years ago during the Pleistocene. It was the largest marsupial that ever lived, the size of a hippopotamus, 9 feet long and 6 feet high at the shoulders. It probably ate tree leaves, shrubs and grasses.

Giant Ground Sloth

The Giant Ground Sloth, Megatherium americanum, was 18 feet long, as big as an elephant, and lived in South America during the Pleistocene until just a few thousand years ago. Other species from the size of a cat to that of the the giant ground sloth lived from the Arctic to Antarctica. They were hunted by humans and some believe humans may even have farmed them.

Phororhacos

The extinct bird, Phororhacos lived in South America during the Miocene and stood eight feet tall. Imagine running away from this carnivore!

Archelon, Archelon ischyros

The Giant Turtle Archelon was a slow moving creature of the ancient seas during the Cretaceous (65 to 146 million years ago). Some remains measure over 15 feet long. Like many of today's turtles it ate jellyfish and expired drifting fish as well as plants, buried its eggs in sandy beaches, and may have lived more than 100 years.

Archelon

Giant Early Shark

Imagine swimming away from this fish!

Giant Dragonfly with a 29 Inch Wingspan

Glyptodon

Look familiar? The Glyptodon lived in South and North America during the Pleistocene (1.8 million to 11,000 years ago). Some were as long as 16 feet.

Toxodon, Toxodon platensis

The Toxodon lived in South America during the Pleistocene about 50 million years ago

Baluchitherium

The Baluchitherium was an early rhinoceros which lived in Asia about 20 to 30 million years ago during the late Oligocene (24 to 38 million years ago )and and early Miocene (5 to 24 million years ago)

Pterodactyls lived in Antarctica, Australia, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas during the Jurassic (205 million to 138 million years ago) and were extinct by the end of the Cretaceous (65 million years ago). Their wings consisted of skin stretched between their bodies and long fourth "fingers" of their "hands". Three additional much smaller fingers of each hand had claws. They laid large eggs. They were not dinasours.

Pterodactylus antiquus

Pterodactylus antiquus was the name given to the first group of Pterodactyls found. Pterodactylus means wing finger. Pterodactylus antiquus was roughly the size of a crow.

Pteranodon

There were 29 pterodactyl species ranging from the size of a small bird up to the size of a Quetzalcoatlus which was 20 feet long and weighed 500 lbs. The largest Quetzalcoatlus wingspan measured over 36 feet. They probably soared over long distances. Another Pterodactyl species, the Pterodaustros, had one thousand teeth.

Pteranodon

Pteranodons lived in Europe and North America during the Cretaceous around 75 million years ago. They stood 6 feet tall and had wingspans of over 20 feet, sometimes greater than 30 feet. The Pteranodons were descendants of the earlier pterodactyls. They ate fish, crabs, mollusks, insects and also scavenged, but had no teeth. They were likely able to soar for long distances with may have even walked well.

Pteranodon Skeleton

Early Pteranodon drawing absent the long crest

Rhamphorhynchus Pterodactyles

Rhamphorhynchus, one of the first vertebrates to fly, was an early pterosaur in Africa and Europe in the late Jurassic around 150 million years ago. They ranged in size, the largest having a wingspan of almost 6 feet. It had a large head, a long neck, long jaws with outward pointing teeth, a throat pouch, small legs and a long tail with a diamond shaped flap. It likely hunted or scavenged for fish. Their fossils are often found near ancient seabeds.

Dimorphodon Pterodactyles

Another Pterodactyle, the Dimorphodon, lived in Europe during the early Jurassic. It had a 4 feet wingspan, deep, wide jaws and a diamond-shaped flap at the end of its long tail, probably used to maneuver and often imitated in science fiction illustrations. The few Dimorphodon fossils which have been found show large voids in its skull which lightened its huge head.

Dimorphodon Skeleton

Pterodactylus spectabilis

Pterodactylus crassirostris

Zeuglodon

The Zeuglodon, or Basilosaurus, "King of the Reptiles", lived during the Eocene about 40 to 50 million years ago. It was an early, 44 toothed, 55 to 75 foot long whale species with small hind legs. Zeuglodon remains have been found in North America and Africa and it's Alabama's State Fossil.

The Zeuglodon has been extinct for about 37 million years. Although you might want to keep your eyes open when swimming. Some believe the large serpent sightings of Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, Lake Okanagan in Canada and other lakes around the world may be descendants of the Zeuglocon or a related species.

Tylosaurus

The Tylosaurus was a large marine lizard, 20 to 45 feet long, which lived during the Cretaceous about 88 to 78 million years ago. It had lots of teeth and ate other marine creatures. Fossils have been found in North America and New Zealand.

Ichthyosaurus

Ichthyosaurs were reptiles (not fish) that lived during the Triassic (208 to 248 million years ago) and became extinct during the Cretaceous (65 to 146 million years ago) about 95 million years ago. They measured up to 40 feet long, had strong jaws, sharp teeth and big eyes to see their prey.

Ichthyosaurus Fossil

Early 3 Inch Shark

Early Shark

Dunkleosteus "terrible fish"

Dunkleosteus, a voracious carnivorous fish, lived about 400 million years ago. It measured up to 11.5 ft long and had huge jaws with scissor-like cutting serrated, razor-sharp bones instead of teeth. Its skull was was over 2 feet long. They were not sharks. They ate sharks!

Dinichthys

Dinichthys lived about 400 million years ago. It was about 30 feet long and weighed over 2 tons. It probably was not agile and waited in the plants of the sea floor to ambush its prey.

Mystriosuchus

mesosaurus

Geosauru

Rhynchosaurus, Masdodonsaurus, Hyperodapedon, Telerpeton

Actinodon, Ceraterpeton, Dilichosoma, Loxomma

Giant Moa

Elephant Birds

Diatryma

Extanichthyornis victor

Diving Marine Bird, Eextanhesperornis regalis

Archaeopteryx

Pro-Ave

The Dawn Horse, Eohippus, Hyracotherium

Hyracotherium, the earliest known horse, lived in the early Eocene, about 50 million years ago in Asia, Europe and North America, was less than 20 inches long and stood less than 10 inches tall at the shoulder. This tiny horse was preyed on by early dog and cat like predators and even giant carnivorous birds!