Science
Favorite Extinct Animals
Oddballs we’ll never see again.
This is not a list of popular extinct species like this one, but a personal list of extinct animals that fascinate me the most. My list is chronological.I found these images from all over the web. If you own a photo’s copyright and think this page violates Fair Use, please contact me.
Hallucigenia (500 million BCE)
From all over. A strange, wormlike blob with long spines. [Wikipedia]
Anomalocarid (500 million BCE)
From all over. Among the biggest Cambrian animals known, at 6 feet. [Wikipedia]
Opabinia (500 millions BCE)
From all over. Five stalked eyes, a long probiscus, and a body length of flap-like appendages with gills. A duck-billed platypus for the Cambrian era. [Wikipedia]
Archaeopteryx (150 million BCE)
From the northern hemisphere. The earliest bird known, a transitional species from reptile to birds. [Wikipedia]
Stegasaurus (145 million BCE)
From North America. Nice plates. [Wikipedia]
Mamenchisaurus (145 million BCE)
From Asia. Longest neck on earth, at 50 feet. [Wikipedia]
Velociraptor (70 million BCE)
From Asia. Fast and deadly, and now suspected to have had feathered arms. [Wikipedia]
Tyrannosaurus Rex (66 million BCE)
From North America. One of the largest carnivors ever. Classic. [Wikipedia]
Duck-Billed Dinosaur (65 million BCE)
From North America. Lame duck up front, raging dinosaur in the back. [Wikipedia]
Megaraptor (65 million BCE)
From South America. Like the Velociraptor, except bigger and badder. [Wikipedia]
Triceratops (65 million BCE)
From North America. The most badass head ever. [Wikipedia]
Quetzalcoatlus (65 million BCE)
From North America. Perhaps the largest flying animal ever, with a wingspan of 30 feet. [Wikipedia]
Anklyosaurus (65 million BCE)
From North America. The coolest armored dinosaur, with a nice tail club. [Wikipedia]
Basilosaurus (34 million BCE)
From North America. An unusually elongated whale-relative, 60 feet long. [Wikipedia]
Indricotherium (32 million BCE)
From Asia. The largest mammal ever known. 18 feet tall, 27 feet long. [Wikipedia]
Giant Teratorn (6 million BCE)
From South America. Largest bird ever. Wingspan of up to 28 feet, more than twice as big as today’s biggest bird. [Wikipedia]
Marsupial Lion (30,000 BCE)
From Australia. Pound-for-pound, the strongest jaws of any mammal ever. Retractable jaws with some knife-blade teeth. [Wikipeida]
Phorusrhacos (15,000 BCE)
From South America. This giant “Terror Bird” hunted mammals. [Wikipedia]
Saber-Toothed Tiger (8,000 BCE)
From the Americas. Huge teeth. [Wikipedia]
Glyptodon (8,000 BCE)
From the Americas. Related to the armadillo, but the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. [Wikipedia]
Giant Ground Sloth (6,000 BCE)
From the Americas. One of the largest mammals ever, as big as an African elephant. Huge claws and teeth. [Wikipedia]
Irish Elk (5,700 BCE)
From throughout Eurasia. The largest deer ever. [Wikipedia]
Wooly Mammoth (1700 BCE)
From Eurasia and North America. Giant, lovable, and shaggy, with huge tusks. [Wikipedia]
Elephant Bird (1600)
From Madagascar. The largest bird ever, at 10 feet tall. [Wikipedia]
Quagga (1883)
From Africa. Half horse, half zebra. [Wikipedia]
Tasmanian Tiger (1936)
From Australia and New Guniea. The largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Huge, scary jaws. [Wikipedia]
Sources
A Gap in Nature
Rumors of Existence
The Best Book of Endangered and Extinct Animals
Wikipedia: List of Extinct Animals
Extinct Animals
Recently Extinct Animals
Also see these animals thought to be extinct for millions of years, now found again.