Megafauna List

Extant

A critically endangered relic of Ice‑Age camelids. The wild Bactrian camel has two humps and can survive in some of the harshest deserts on Earth. It diverged from domestic Bactrians hundreds of thousands of years ago and survives in small populations.

Globally Extinct

The Columbian Mammoth — Mammuthus columbi was one of the largest elephant species to have ever lived, a majestic icon of the North American Pleistocene. Towering over modern elephants, this massive herbivore roamed the grasslands and open woodlands of the continent, from present-day Canada to Mexico

Domesticated 4,000 years ago

The domestic turkey — descendant of the North American wild turkey — embodies the intersection of indigenous domestication, colonial exchange, and industrial poultry breeding.

Globally Extinct

Hemiauchenia paradoxa, the Giant Llama of South America, was a long-limbed camelid that once strode across the grasslands and dry valleys of the late Pleistocene. Taller and heavier than modern llamas, it was part of the great wave of North American migrants that spread south after the continents connected.

Extant

The Forest Shadow — Okapia johnstoni, the okapi, is the last living relative of the giraffe — a secretive browser of the Congo’s rainforests that moves like a ghost through shafts of green light and silence.

Globally Extinct

Towering and majestic, the Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) is famed for having the largest antlers of any known deer species. Once common across Ice Age Eurasia, it was likely hunted by Upper Paleolithic humans and features in some of the earliest known cave art.

Globally Extinct

The Naumann’s Elephant, a cold-adapted descendant of the straight-tusked elephant, once roamed the ancient woodlands of East Asia. Known from fossils found across Japan and China, Palaeoloxodon naumanni was a close relative of the larger European Palaeoloxodon antiquus, but adapted to cooler, forested environments. It was likely hunted by early humans during the late Pleistocene.

Regionally Extinct

The Gentle Giant of Asia, the Asian Elephant is an intelligent, highly social herbivore revered across cultures. Once ranging widely from Syria to China, Elephas maximus now survives only in fragmented populations across South and Southeast Asia. Ancient humans hunted and later domesticated this species, shaping millennia of human–elephant coexistence.

Extant

The Tusked Titan of the Arctic, the Walrus is a social, ice-dwelling pinniped famous for its long ivory tusks, whiskered face, and deep bellowing calls. Odobenus rosmarus has long played a central role in Arctic cultures, providing meat, blubber, hide, and ivory for tools and trade. Its ancestors first appeared millions of years ago, perfectly adapted to a life of cold and ice.

Domesticated 8,000 years ago

The domestic chicken — the world’s most widespread bird, evolved from the junglefowl of Southeast Asia to become humanity’s most numerous livestock species.

Globally Extinct

The Handy Man: Dawn of Human Ingenuity — Homo habilis marks the first clear step into human tool use and culture, bridging the gap between ape-like ancestors and later members of the human genus.

Extant

The Southern Elephant Seal is the largest member of the carnivoran order and one of the most extreme divers among marine mammals. Though rarely hunted by pre-modern humans, it was heavily targeted by 18th–19th century sealers for its oil-rich blubber.

Globally Extinct

The Short-Faced Giant Kangaroo of Pleistocene Australia, Simosthenurus occidentalis was a powerful, stocky browser adapted to the dry woodlands and scrublands of the continent. Unlike modern kangaroos, it walked upright with a robust, human-like posture and used a single-toed foot for stability.

Regionally Extinct

The Hidden Rhino of the Tropics, the Javan Rhinoceros is one of the rarest large mammals on Earth. Once widespread across Southeast Asia, Rhinoceros sondaicus now survives only in a small, protected corner of Java. Ancient humans revered and hunted this elusive species for its horn and hide, long before modern exploitation nearly erased it from the wild.

Globally Extinct

The Sturdy-Bodied Kangaroo — Sthenurus andersoni was one of the last of Australia’s short-faced kangaroos, an upright browser with a compact, muscular body built for power rather than speed. It lived during the Late Pleistocene, browsing on shrubs and leaves in the open woodlands and plains of southeastern Australia.

Regionally Extinct

The Armored Giant of the Floodplains, the Indian Rhinoceros is a powerful grazer of the South Asian grasslands, easily recognized by its thick, folded hide and single horn. Once found from Pakistan to Myanmar, Rhinoceros unicornis now survives mainly in India and Nepal. Revered in ancient art yet relentlessly hunted for its horn, this species has walked beside humans since the dawn of civilization.

Globally Extinct

The Florida Camel — Palaeolama mirifica, a long-necked, lightly built camelid of the Pleistocene, wandered the subtropical grasslands and open forests of ancient Florida — a graceful remnant of North America’s vanished camel lineage.

Extant

Brilliant red and lake-bound, the Sockeye Salmon transforms freshwater ecosystems with its migrations and post-spawning die-offs.

Domesticated 5,500 years ago by Botai in Russia

The Engine of Civilization — The Domestic Horse (Equus ferus caballus) revolutionized human mobility, agriculture, and warfare. Descended from wild Eurasian horses, it was first domesticated on the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, southwest Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Extant

The European Woodlands Bison, Bison bonasus, also known as the European bison or wisent, is Europe’s heaviest surviving land mammal. Once widespread from the British Isles to Siberia, its range contracted severely due to overhunting and deforestation. Early humans in Europe hunted it for meat, hides, and bones, and the species even appears in Paleolithic cave art.

Globally Extinct

The Woodland Muskox, Bootherium bombifrons, was a cold-adapted Ice Age bovid that roamed North America during the Late Pleistocene. Unlike the modern muskox, it thrived in more open woodlands and prairies, bridging the gap between steppe grazers and forest browsers. Early Paleoindians likely hunted this species alongside mammoths and ancient bison

Extant

The Lowland Tapir — Tapirus terrestris, the largest terrestrial mammal of South America today, a relic lineage of once-diverse prehistoric tapirs that has endured from the Ice Age into the Anthropocene.

Globally Extinct

The largest deer ever known, carrying antlers wider than a car. This Pleistocene giant stood over 2 m at the shoulder and browsed near wetlands across Europe and Asia.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Syrian Camel — Camelus moreli was a large prehistoric camel that roamed the grasslands of what is now Syria during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. Known from fossils found in the El Kowm Basin, it represents one of the few extinct camel species native to the Levant rather than North Africa.

Extant

The Banteng is a wild Southeast Asian bovine known for its elegant build and sexual dimorphism — males are glossy dark brown to black, while females are reddish-brown. Once widespread across Java, Borneo, and Indochina, this species has declined drastically due to hunting and habitat loss.

Extant

The Desert Survivor — Equus africanus, the African Wild Ass, is the hardy ancestor of the domestic donkey. Native to the arid regions of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea Hills, it is a master of survival, capable of enduring heat and drought that would fell most other mammals.

Extant

The Ice Age Muskox — Ovibos moschatus, draped in wool and defiance, is a survivor from the mammoth steppe — a cold-adapted relic that has trudged through Ice Ages and human ages alike, its shaggy coat carrying the memory of glaciers.

Globally Extinct

The Highland Trumpeter — Cuvieronius was a New World gomphothere that roamed highland regions of South and Central America. Its spiral-twisted tusks and trunk were key tools in foraging. Early human groups hunted it during the Late Pleistocene.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Ground Sloth, Megatherium americanum, was one of the largest land mammals to ever live and dominated the South American plains during the Pleistocene. Its immense claws, towering size, and slow-moving gait made it a formidable herbivore — and a prized target for early human hunters.

Globally Extinct

The Southern Giant Ground Sloth, Glossotherium robustum, was a massive South American herbivore that roamed the open Pampas and wetlands of the Late Pleistocene, shaping the landscape as it foraged and dug for roots.

Globally Extinct

The Ancient Muskox — Praeovibos priscus, or the Giant Muskox, was a powerful cold-adapted bovid that roamed the mammoth steppe during the Pleistocene, bridging the lineage between early tundra grazers and modern muskoxen. Its broad distribution across Eurasia and North America made it one of the most widespread Ice Age ruminants.

Globally Extinct

The American Mastodon — Mammut americanum was a massive Ice Age proboscidean that once roamed North America’s forests and wetlands. Unlike mammoths, mastodons had straighter tusks and molars adapted for browsing leaves, twigs, and branches.

Domesticated 10,000 years ago in Turkey

The Domesticated Omnivore — The Domestic Pig is one of humanity’s oldest and most widespread livestock species, renowned for its intelligence, adaptability, and crucial role in early agricultural societies.

Globally Extinct

The Sicilian Dwarf Elephant — Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis, a shrunken descendant of the straight-tusked giants, turned the Mediterranean islands into its refuge, evolving into a miniature echo of its towering ancestors.

No

The self-domesticating hunter — Homo sapiens is the only surviving human species, a tool-making primate whose social intelligence and cooperative hunting strategies reshaped ecosystems across the planet.

Regionally Extinct

North America’s great trumpet‑voiced deer. The elk or wapiti is larger than other deer but smaller than a moose, and its haunting bugle echoes through western forests and meadows.

Globally Extinct

Named by Thomas Jefferson, Megalonyx jeffersonii was a massive ground sloth that once roamed woodlands across North America. Though slow-moving, its size and strength made it formidable — yet it likely fell victim to early human hunters during the Pleistocene megafaunal extinction.

Globally Extinct

The South American Gomphothere, Notiomastodon platensis, was a resilient and widespread relative of modern elephants that roamed the open plains, savannas, and dry forests of South America during the Late Pleistocene. Standing nearly three meters tall at the shoulder, it was among the largest land mammals of its time. Its extinction coincided with the arrival and expansion of early human populations across the continent.

No

North America’s fleet-footed relic of the Ice Age plains.

Extant

The wide-ranging Chum Salmon sustains northern peoples with abundant runs, its roe once more prized than flesh.

Globally Extinct

The Pleistocene Giant Tapir — Tapirus veroensis, one of the largest tapirs ever to roam North America, thriving in the lush river valleys and woodlands of the Late Pleistocene before vanishing with the megafaunal collapse.

Globally Extinct

The Giant-Horned Bison, Bison latifrons, was the largest bovid to ever roam North America, a colossal ice-age grazer of the Pleistocene grasslands. Known for its extraordinary horns stretching over 2 meters tip-to-tip, this species was a powerful symbol of the megafauna era. Early Paleoindians likely encountered and hunted it, though its size and strength made it a formidable quarry.

Extant

The Forest Sentinel of South Asia, the Sambar Deer is a large, rugged cervid that roams dense jungles and mountain forests. Known for its distinctive, rugged antlers and dark brown coat, this deer has long played a role in both predator-prey dynamics and human hunting traditions across Asia.

No

The Western Gorilla: The Forest Titan of Central Africa

Extant

The Black Caiman — Apex Predator of the Amazonian Waters

Regionally Extinct

The Forest Titan of Southeast Asia, the Gaur is the largest living bovine, a muscular and formidable wild cattle species that still roams the dense forests and hilly terrain of South and Southeast Asia. Revered in local cultures and feared by predators, Bos gaurus is a powerful symbol of wilderness, now increasingly threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Regionally Extinct

Swift Survivor of the Savannah, the Hartebeest is a high-speed antelope known for its elongated skull and endurance running. Once widespread across African plains, several subspecies have dwindled due to hunting and habitat fragmentation.

Extant

The Central American survivor — Baird’s Tapir is the largest land mammal native to Central America, a shy browser of tropical forests whose lineage stretches back to the Ice Age. Once common across the region, this nocturnal herbivore’s quiet habits and deep evolutionary roots make it a living relic of ancient megafauna.

Extant

The Northern Giraffe, Giraffa camelopardalis, is the world’s tallest land animal and one of Africa’s most iconic species. Once widespread across much of the continent, it now survives in fragmented populations, its towering form and spotted coat a living relic of Africa’s Pleistocene megafauna.

Extant

The Blue Wildebeest, Connochaetes taurinus, is one of Africa’s most iconic grazers — famed for its thundering migrations across the Serengeti and Maasai Mara. Its endurance and herd instincts have shaped the ecology of East Africa’s grasslands for millennia.