Megafauna List

Globally Extinct

One of our earliest putative hominins, Ardipithecus kadabba roamed East Africa in the Late Miocene, perhaps walking upright but still retaining many primitive ape-like traits.

Globally Extinct

The giant apex eagle of prehistoric New Zealand—largest eagle known, specialized to hunt moa.

Globally Extinct

The intriguing transitional australopith: Australopithecus garhi, with a mosaic of primitive and derived traits, bridging traits of Australopithecus and early Homo.

Globally Extinct

The hyper-chewing “nutcracker” hominin of East Africa, Paranthropus boisei, known for its massive jaws, huge molars, and dietary specialization in a changing savanna world.

Globally Extinct

Australopithecus africanus: The Southern Pioneer of Humanity — Australopithecus africanus represents one of the earliest clear steps toward the human lineage, blending ape-like agility with a surprisingly modern face and bipedal grace.

Globally Extinct

One of the oldest claimed hominins, Sahelanthropus tchadensis (“Toumaï”) walks the fine line between ape and human ancestor in a Miocene Sahel.

Globally Extinct

Orrorin tugenensis: The “Original Man” from Kenya’s Tugen Hills

Globally Extinct

Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star cave system, South Africa.

Globally Extinct

The island dwarf of Flores — Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “Hobbit,” was a small-bodied human species that survived astonishingly late into the Pleistocene, sharing the planet with modern humans.

Extant

The chimpanzee: our wild cousin, tool-using, socially complex, endangered great ape.

Globally Extinct

A powerfully built, small-brained hominin adapted for crushing hard foods on the open savannas of southern Africa.

Globally Extinct

The Transitional Walker: Australopithecus afarensis and the Rise of Bipedalism — Australopithecus afarensis bridges the evolutionary gap between tree-dwelling apes and fully terrestrial humans, walking upright while still comfortable in the trees.

Globally Extinct

Ardipithecus ramidus — The Root Ape of Humanity, a Transitional Walker Between Forest and Future

Globally Extinct

The Cold-Adapted Cousin – Neanderthal (Homo neanderthalensis)

No

The Peaceful Ape of the Congo – Bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Globally Extinct

The Ancient River Hippopotamus, Hexaprotodon represents a diverse genus of prehistoric hippos that once thrived across Africa and southern Asia. Some species survived well into the Holocene on islands such as Madagascar and Java. These animals were smaller than the modern hippopotamus and often adapted to riverine, swamp, and even forest environments. Early humans and hominins hunted Hexaprotodon species throughout their range.

Extant

The smallest member of the rorqual whales, the Minke Whale is a fast, agile baleen whale found in oceans worldwide. Unlike many of its larger relatives, it was not heavily targeted until modern commercial whaling began.

Extant

The deep-diving giant of the oceans, the Sperm Whale is the largest toothed predator on Earth. It was intensely hunted by early whalers for spermaceti oil and remains an iconic species in maritime history.

Extant

The giant of Pacific rivers, the Chinook Salmon undertakes one of the longest freshwater migrations of any fish, fueled by immense lipid reserves.

Globally Extinct

The Malagasy Pygmy Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus madagascariensis, was a forest-dwelling relative of the common hippo that evolved in Madagascar, standing barely a meter tall and adapted to dense woodland streams; it likely persisted into recent millennia before being hunted to extinction by early human settlers.

Extant

The saltwater monarch of the Indo-Pacific, Crocodylus porosus is the closest thing the modern world has to a living dinosaur—an apex predator that owns every estuary from India to Australia and doesn’t care who knows it.

Extant

The longest-lived mammal on Earth, the Bowhead Whale is an Arctic filter-feeder known for its exceptionally thick blubber layer. The Bowhead whale was hunted and scavenged by Arctic Paleoindians such as the Thule Inuit.

Extant

Ancient guardian of Africa’s rivers, Crocodylus niloticus is both legend and nightmare—a 5-meter embodiment of patience that has been waiting at the water’s edge since before the pyramids were ideas.

Extant

An ice-edge seal of the northern Pacific, speckled like surf spray and woven into Arctic lifeways.

Regionally Extinct

The River Horse of Africa, the Hippopotamus is a semi-aquatic giant known for its immense size, aggressive behavior, and powerful jaws. Revered and feared by ancient peoples, the Hippopotamus once ranged widely across Africa and was hunted for its meat, hide, and ivory-like teeth.

Globally Extinct

Towering over other Ice Age predators, Arctodus simus, the Short-Faced Bear, was one of the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivores to have ever existed. With long limbs and a reduced snout, it may have been a formidable predator or a highly efficient scavenger.

Globally Extinct

The Steppe Brown Bear — Ursus savini, an extinct Ice Age relative of the modern brown bear, roamed the cold plains of Pleistocene Eurasia, bridging the evolutionary gap between early bears and the giants of the Ice Age.

Regionally Extinct

The Arctic Apex Predator — The Polar Bear is the largest extant bear species and the top predator of the Arctic ecosystem. It is highly adapted to life on sea ice, where it hunts seals for their high fat blubber.

Globally Extinct

Cave bear – Ursus ingressus – High‑altitude cave bear with long limbs and plant‑based diet.

Extant

The Arctic’s bearded bottom-feeder, the bearded seal thrives on the seafloor’s bounty and once sustained ancient polar hunters.

Extant

A sleek Arctic seal with bold white “ribbons” of fur — the Ribbon Seal moves through Bering Sea ice like living calligraphy.

Extant

The White Ghost of the Arctic Seas, the Beluga Whale is a highly social and vocal cetacean adapted to life among sea ice and frigid northern waters. Its pale coloration, flexible neck, and complex vocalizations make it one of the most distinctive marine mammals. For thousands of years, Arctic Indigenous peoples have relied on Delphinapterus leucas for sustenance and tools, hunting it with great skill and respect.

Extant

Large sea duck known for its insulating down and rich fatty flesh.

Extant

An Arctic seal of ice and rhythm, migrating by instinct across frozen seas.

Extant

The Continental Titan — Ursus arctos, the brown bear, is one of Earth’s widest-ranging mammalian carnivores, a species whose size, adaptability, and mythic presence have shaped human culture across continents for millennia.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Tortoise of the Pleistocene — Megalochelys atlas was the largest tortoise to ever walk the Earth, a true reptilian giant that grazed the grasslands and open woodlands of South Asia. Its enormous size made it nearly invulnerable to predators, but also a prime target for early humans.

Extant

Sleek and acrobatic, the Coho Salmon flashes silver through northern rivers each autumn, a key species in coastal ecosystems.

Extant

The Pygmy Hippopotamus — The Forest Phantom of West Africa
Small, secretive, and built for the shadows of dense rainforest, Choeropsis liberiensis is a reclusive relative of the common hippopotamus. Endemic to the swampy forests of Liberia and neighboring regions, this miniature hippo represents a lineage that has persisted since the Pleistocene—an ancient survivor from a time when much of Africa was greener and wetter. Though it still exists today, its numbers are vanishingly small, and it remains one of the least understood large mammals on Earth.

Extant

The Candlefish — the eulachon’s nickname “candlefish” comes from its extraordinarily oily flesh; a dried fish can literally be lit as a candle.

Globally Extinct since 1844

A giant, flightless North Atlantic seabird hunted to extinction for meat, oil, and down in the 19th century.

Globally Extinct

The Cave Monarch — Ursus spelaeus, the cave bear, was the Ice Age’s colossal omnivore, ruling Europe’s mountains and valleys for hundreds of thousands of years before vanishing with the retreat of the last glaciers.

Globally Extinct

The Steller’s Sea Cow — Hydrodamalis gigas was a colossal sirenian that once inhabited the cold, kelp-rich waters of the North Pacific. Discovered by Europeans in 1741, it was driven to extinction within just 27 years of its discovery due to overhunting.

Regionally Extinct

The modern species of hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius, once thrived across Pleistocene Europe during warm interglacial periods, from Iberia to Britain.

Extant

The pale giant of the Orinoco, Crocodylus intermedius once ruled Venezuela’s rivers with quiet authority, a golden-gray predator whose presence kept entire ecosystems honest.

Extant

The Arctic Char — The Northern Jewel of Ice-Bound Waters

Extant

The Singing Giant of the Seas — The Humpback Whale is renowned for its haunting songs and acrobatic breaches. Found in all major oceans, it is one of the most widely distributed large whale species. Ancient coastal peoples hunted Humpback Whales for meat, blubber, and bone long before industrial whaling.

Extant

The ringed seal is the small, elusive heartbeat of the Arctic—swift beneath the ice and crucial to every predator that hunts there. Its name comes from the faint gray rings on its silvery coat, a pattern that camouflages perfectly against shifting sea ice.

Extant

The American Alligator — A Living Relic of the Age of Reptiles, the American Alligator is a powerful apex predator inhabiting the wetlands of the southeastern United States. Though once hunted nearly to extinction for its hide, it has made a remarkable recovery and now thrives in many protected habitats.

Globally Extinct

A massive semi‑aquatic megaherbivore of Pleistocene Europe, Hippopotamus antiquus roamed rivers and floodplains long before modern hippos colonized the continent.

Extant

The Coastal Voyager, Eschrichtius robustus, is a migratory baleen whale known for its long coastal journeys and barnacle-encrusted gray skin. Once hunted to near extinction, it is a living survivor of the whaling era.