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Top Ten Extinct Animals

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Ever wondered how the earth would be if there was a Tyrannosaurus Rex still roaming the earth or the Cave Lion terrifying all the animals in the forests. Alas! We can only let our imagination run wild since all these amazing animals became extinct sometime back. Read on to know more about the top 10 extinct animals.

 

1. Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus-Rex

The largest carnivores of all time, this huge animal had staggering measurements of 43.3 feet in length, a height of 16.6 feet and weighing heavily over several tons. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was like other tyrannosaurids: a Bipedal Carnivore, having a huge skull and supported by long and strong tail. This animal had big and massive hind limbs and forelimbs were small and had just two digits. There have been findings of the fossils of Tyrannosaurus Rex in North American Rock formations dating back to periods 68.5 million years ago.

 

2. Quagga (Half Horse, Half Zebra)

Quagga-(Half-Horse,-Half-Ze

The extinct Quagga, famous in Africa, is a subspecies of the Zebra. It was found in large numbers in South Africa’s Cape Province and even the Southern part of the Orange Free State.

 

3. Thylacine: The Tasmanian Tiger

Thylacine_-The-Tasmanian-Ti

The largest carnivorous marsupial in recent times was found in Australia and New Guinea. This animal probably became extinct only during the 20th century and large fossils were found of other related species dating to early Miocene. Hunting was the prime reason for the extinction of the Thylacine: The Tasmanian Tiger.

 

4. Steller’s Sea Cow: The Defenseless Beast

Steller’s-Sea-Cow_-The-Defe

Was first discovered in 1741 on the Asiatic Coast of Bering Sea by Georg Steller a naturalist who was traveling in the explorer Vitus Bering. The Sea Cow was much larger than the Manatee or Dugong and measured 25.9 feet in length and weighed more than 3 tons. With the appearance of a seal and a whale-like tale, this creature had two fore limbs that were rather huge and lived only in the water. The Sea Cow had no teeth just two bones one above and below in the mouth and the head was smaller in comparison to the body.

 

5. Irish Deer: the largest deer that ever lived

Irish-Deer_-the-largest-dee

Also called the Irish elk or Giant Deer, this was the largest that was found in Eurasia from Ireland to the east of Lake Baikal at Pleistocene and the beginning of Holocene. The Irish Deer was as tall as 7 feet with the antlers alone weighing at 90 pounds.

 

6. Caspian Tiger

Caspian-Tiger

Known to be extinct in recent times as late as the 1970s, this tiger was found in Iran, Iraq, Mongolia, Turkey and most eastern countries before it became extinct in 1970s. This was the third largest tiger and had long legs with big paws and distinctive large claws. The males weighed at 169 to 240 kg and the females were of 85 to 135kg.

 

7. Aurochs: Large Cattle

Aurochs_-Large-Cattle

Famous in Europe but evolved in India two million years ago, they migrated to Asia and Europe some 250,000 years ago. The hunts conducted by Royals to test their skills proved detrimental for this animal and eventually brought it to extinction.

 

8. Great Auk: Largest of Auks

Great-Auk_-Largest-of-Auks

A genetic relation to the penguins, this creature was also called the garefowl or penguin. Having a height of 75 centimeters and weighing about 5 kg, this was the largest of all auks. Found mostly in Canada, Iceland and Greenland, this Auk was extinct by the 14th century.

 

9. Cave Lion: Largest Lion Ever Lived

Cave-Lion_-Largest-Lion-Eve

Also called the European or Eurasia cave lion, it was found in the Balkans and reports from fossils prove that the cave lion was 10% bigger than the regular size lions of today and existed on earth until 2,000 years ago.

 

10. Dodo: The Archetype of extinct species

Dodo_-The-Archetype-of-exti

A flightless bird that lived in Mauritius, related to doves and pigeons; the Dodo was extinct from the 17th century. It had a height of 1 meter and lived on fruits and built nests on the land. It was easy targets for most predators since this bird could not fly and defend itself.

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  3. Tasmanian Devil

    The reason for the extincion of the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) was that the government placed a bounty on dead Thylacines. Farmers were worried about livestock being taken and these animals were the scapegoats. When cloning extinct animals becomes safely available I hope Thylacines are the first to be resurrected. As a Tasmanian I am continually saddened I am unable to see these amazing animals due to my ancestors ignorance.

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