Megafauna List

Globally Extinct

The Malagasy Dwarf Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus lemerlei, was a small, semi-aquatic descendant of African hippos that adapted to Madagascar’s rivers and wetlands, surviving until about a thousand years ago when it was likely hunted to extinction by the island’s first human settlers.

Extant

The salt-tolerant predator of mangroves and estuaries, Crocodylus acutus rules the tropical coastlines of the Americas with prehistoric calm and too many teeth.

Extant

The quiet ambusher of the Yucatán swamps, Crocodylus moreletii lurks in shaded freshwater pools, a dark-eyed relic of Mesoamerican wetlands that somehow dodged extinction by being just elusive enough

Globally Extinct

The Cuban Giant Tortoise — The Lost Titan of the Caribbean Islands
Once roaming the fertile valleys and savannas of prehistoric Cuba, Chelonoidis cubensis was among the largest land tortoises to inhabit the West Indies. A slow-moving herbivore of immense presence, it helped shape its island ecosystem before disappearing at the dawn of human arrival. Its massive shell and gentle nature made it a symbol of the ancient Caribbean’s now-vanished megafauna.

Globally Extinct

The “Gorgon-eyed River Horse,” Hippopotamus gorgops, was a colossal hippo whose elevated eye orbits allowed it to peer above water while nearly submerged.

Globally Extinct

The Woolly Rhinoceros — Coelodonta antiquitatis was one of the most iconic mammals of the Ice Age steppes. Perfectly adapted to the cold, it was covered in dense fur and roamed the tundra and grasslands of Eurasia alongside mammoths and reindeer.

Globally Extinct

The American Lion — Panthera atrox was the largest cat to ever roam North America, a colossal Ice Age predator that ruled the open plains and valleys of the Pleistocene. Closely related to the Eurasian Cave Lion (Panthera leo spelaea), it was a dominant apex predator that shared its range with dire wolves, short-faced bears, and saber-toothed cats.

Regionally Extinct

The Striped Apex — Panthera tigris, the tiger, is evolution’s masterpiece of stealth and strength — an apex predator whose orange-and-black shadow has haunted Asia’s forests and myths for two million years.

Globally Extinct

The North American Homotherium latidens was an apex predator of the Ice Age plains, perfectly adapted for endurance-based pack hunting. Roaming the open grasslands and light woodlands of Pleistocene America, it targeted large herbivores such as camels, bison, and juvenile mammoths — possibly in cooperative social groups.

Globally Extinct

Homotherium latidens, also known as the European Scimitar-Toothed Cat, was a highly specialized, social predator of the Pleistocene. Built for endurance hunting, it once roamed from the British Isles to the Russian plains, preying on megafauna like juvenile mammoths and horses — and potentially clashing with early humans.

Regionally Extinct

The Emperor of the Taiga — Panthera tigris altaica, the Siberian tiger, is the largest cat ever to walk the Earth, a flame-striped shadow of power and silence moving through the snowbound forests of the Russian Far East.

Globally Extinct

A robust Pliocene tortoise from Laetoli, living alongside early hominins.

Globally Extinct

A heavily armored herbivore of the Pleistocene tropics, Holmesina paulacoutoi was a relative of armadillos and glyptodonts, roaming the open and forested landscapes of Brazil. Its thick carapace and strong limbs made it well-suited for defense — but not immune to early human hunters.

Globally Extinct

The Armored Dome of the Pampas — Panochthus tuberculatus, a fortress on legs, lumbered across the grasslands of Pleistocene South America clad in bony armor that could shrug off predators and weather alike.

Globally Extinct

The Apex Saber-Tooth of South America, Smilodon populator was the largest and most formidable of all saber-toothed cats. Towering over its North American cousin Smilodon fatalis, it reigned supreme across the grasslands and forests of Pleistocene South America, preying upon massive herbivores like giant ground sloths and prehistoric horses.

Globally Extinct

The northern pampathere Holmesina septentrionalis was a heavily armored herbivore that roamed the southeastern United States during the late Pleistocene. Its flexible shell, sturdy limbs, and grazing habits made it a common sight in warm, open habitats from Florida to Texas.

Extant

The largest mainland tortoise, built for survival in the Sahel’s extreme drylands.

Regionally Extinct

The Last Lions of Europe, Panthera leo leo, once roamed the woodlands and grasslands of southern Europe and the Balkans during the Holocene. These were true lions—close kin to today’s African and Asiatic lions—that returned north after the last Ice Age, reclaiming territory their Ice Age cousins, the cave lions, had vacated millennia earlier.

Globally Extinct

The Saber-Toothed Predator of the Pleistocene, Smilodon fatalis was one of the most formidable carnivores of Ice Age North America. With its iconic saber-like canine teeth and muscular frame, this apex predator dominated open woodlands and plains, preying on large herbivores such as bison and camels.

Globally Extinct

The Armored Tank of the Pleistocene Pampas, Doedicurus clavicaudatus was a colossal, club-tailed glyptodont — a relative of modern armadillos — that roamed the grasslands of South America. Protected by a dome of heavy armor and wielding a bone-studded tail like a mace, it was one of the most formidable herbivores of the Ice Age

Globally Extinct

The Southern Pampathere, Pampatherium typum, was a heavily armored, grazing giant of South America’s Ice Age grasslands. A close relative of armadillos, it bore a broad, domed shell and massive digging claws, roaming the pampas and savannas alongside ground sloths and glyptodonts.

Extant

A cold-water northern Atlantic cod species adapted to icy Arctic seas, important to Greenlandic subsistence culture.

Globally Extinct

The Patterned Shield Giant — Glyptodon reticulatus was a massive, herbivorous armored mammal that roamed the grasslands and river valleys of South America during the Late Pleistocene. Distinguished by its strikingly patterned dome of interlocking bony plates, this creature was among the largest members of the armadillo lineage.

Extant

The King of the Savanna — The Lion is one of the most iconic and social of all big cats, symbolizing strength and cooperation. Known for its family-based pride structure, the lion remains a key predator shaping Africa’s grassland ecosystems.

Regionally Extinct

The Lion of the Sands — Panthera leo persica, the Asiatic lion, once reigned from the Mediterranean to the Ganges. A shadow of its former empire survives today in a single Indian refuge — the Gir Forest — where the last echoes of an ancient roar still roll through the acacia.

Globally Extinct

A large armadillo of the Pleistocene, Holmesina occidentalis roamed tropical lowlands of western South America, clad in semi-rigid armor and grazing on coarse plants.

Globally Extinct

The Lion of the Ice Age — Panthera leo spelaea, commonly known as the Eurasian Cave Lion, was one of the largest and most formidable big cats ever to exist. This Ice Age predator ruled the mammoth steppe, preying on reindeer, horses, and bison while sharing the landscape with early humans and Neanderthals.

Globally Extinct

The Armored Grazer of the Pleistocene Pampas, Pampatherium humboldti, was a giant relative of modern armadillos, covered in a shell of bony armor plates that protected it from predators like saber-toothed cats and humans. Unlike its smaller cousins, this ancient pampathere was a formidable herbivore that once shaped the grassy ecosystems of South America.

Globally Extinct

The Mediterranean Haploid Deer (Haploidoceros mediterraneus) was a small, lightly built Pleistocene deer native to southern France and the Iberian Peninsula. It stood apart from its relatives with unusually simple, two-pronged antlers and a form suited to forest-edge life in warm temperate woodlands.

Globally Extinct

The Pneumatized Armored Giant — Neosclerocalyptus paskoensis, a glyptodont whose expanded nasal sinuses hint at adaptations to cold, dry Pleistocene landscapes.

Globally Extinct

Glyptotherium cylindricum, the Armored Giant of the Pleistocene Americas, was a heavily shielded herbivore resembling a walking fortress. Covered in a mosaic of bony plates, it lumbered across the grasslands and river valleys of what is now Texas and Mexico, a relic of the ancient glyptodont lineage from South America.

Domesticated

The Domesticated Cattle, Bos taurus, is the direct descendant of the wild aurochs (Bos primigenius), domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. It is one of the most important animals in human history, providing meat, milk, hides, and labor across nearly every culture. From Neolithic villages to modern farms, cattle have been central to human survival and economy.

Extant

The Giant of the Savanna — Taurotragus derbianus, the Derby eland, stands as Africa’s largest antelope, a blend of strength, elegance, and evolutionary refinement shaped by millions of years of open-grassland adaptation.

Extant

The Wild Yak, Bos mutus, is a high-altitude specialist of the Tibetan Plateau and Central Asia, adapted to some of the harshest environments on Earth. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic yak (Bos grunniens) and remains a symbol of endurance in alpine cultures. Once widespread, it has been heavily reduced by hunting and habitat competition with livestock.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Goanna — Australia’s Prehistoric Apex Reptile
Known to science as Varanus priscus and often called “Megalania,” this formidable predator once dominated the dry plains and open forests of Pleistocene Australia. As the largest terrestrial lizard to have ever lived, it was a reptilian titan, commanding respect from all creatures that shared its ancient landscape. Its immense size and stealth made it a feared presence—and possibly one of the earliest apex predators encountered by humans on the continent.

Domesticated 5,000 years ago in Arabia

The One-Humped Survivor — The Dromedary Camel has been indispensable to desert civilizations for millennia. Native to arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa, this single-humped camel was first domesticated by humans over 3,000 years ago and no longer exists in the wild.

Extant

The Spiral-Horned Titan — Taurotragus oryx, the common eland, is Africa’s most imposing antelope, an evolutionary masterpiece of power, endurance, and grace spread across the continent’s open savannas.

Globally Extinct

The North American Ground Sloth, Paramylodon harlani, was a massive, slow-moving herbivore that once lumbered across the plains and woodlands of Ice Age North America. Covered in thick hide reinforced by bony armor and equipped with long, curved claws for pulling down vegetation, Paramylodon was a gentle giant well adapted to its Pleistocene environment.

Extant

The African Giant — The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal, a keystone species of the African savanna. Its immense size, intelligence, and complex social structures make it one of the most iconic mammals on Earth.

Globally Extinct

The Merck’s Rhinoceros — The Cold-Adapted Grazer of Eurasia’s Ice Age Plains
Majestic, shaggy, and built for endurance, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, also known as Merck’s rhinoceros, roamed the temperate and subarctic steppes of Eurasia during the Pleistocene. With its heavy coat and massive horn, it was one of the great browsers of the Ice Age, sharing its frozen world with mammoths, steppe bison, and early humans. This rhinoceros was an emblem of adaptability—thriving from Western Europe to Siberia until its final disappearance near the close of the last glacial period.

Globally Extinct

Equus (ferus) latipes, the Yukon Wild Horse, was a cold-adapted Pleistocene subspecies of horse that roamed the ice-age grasslands of Beringia. It was smaller and stockier than modern horses, perfectly suited to the frigid mammoth steppe stretching from Alaska to Siberia.

Extant

Himalayan “goat‑antelope” with an oil‑slick coat. The takin’s heavy body, arched Roman nose and swept‑back horns give it a musk‑ox‑like silhouette. These stocky ungulates navigate Himalayan cliffs and forests, leaving a pungent coat oil on rocks.

Extant

The Titan of the Northern Forests, the Moose is the largest living member of the deer family, famed for its towering antlers and solitary temperament. Moose were historically hunted by indigenous Arctic and boreal peoples across Eurasia and North America for their meat, hides, and bones.

Globally Extinct

A giant buffalo of Java with spectacular horns. Bubalus palaeokerabau roamed Late‑Pleistocene Sundaland. With horns that could span roughly 2.5 m across, this buffalo dwarfed modern domestic water buffalo and inhabited the wetlands and savanna of ancient Java.

Extant

The Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is a large, robust antelope that inhabits the wetlands, floodplains, and savanna woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Recognizable by its shaggy coat and the distinctive white ring encircling its rump, the waterbuck thrives in areas close to water, which it uses for refuge from predators.

Globally Extinct

Macrauchenia, a long-necked herbivore from South America’s Pleistocene plains, baffled Charles Darwin when he first encountered its remains. This unique ungulate, possibly preyed upon by early humans, was one of the last survivors of South America's once-diverse native megafauna.

Globally Extinct

The Pleistocene Shrub-Ox, Euceratherium collinum, was a stocky browsing bovine that roamed North American woodlands and canyons until its extinction near the end of the last Ice Age.

Globally Extinct

The Powerful-Bodied Short-Faced Kangaroo — Simosthenurus pales was one of the more muscular species of the extinct short-faced kangaroos, built like a heavyweight among browsers. It stood tall in the open woodlands of southern Australia during the Pleistocene, feeding on tough shrubs and dry leaves with its crushing jaws.

Globally Extinct

The extinct Baikal Yak was a massive Ice Age relative of the modern wild yak, adapted to the cold steppe-mountain ecosystems of Pleistocene Siberia. It likely grazed across the glacial grasslands near Lake Baikal and the Altai ranges, thriving in subarctic climates before its disappearance at the end of the Pleistocene.

Domesticated 10,500 years ago

The domestic goat — humanity’s nimble companion, milk-giver, and mountain browser — shaped early herding and agriculture across the Old World.