Megafauna List

Extant

The Giant Forest Hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) is the largest wild member of the pig family, a dark-coated, tusked browser that haunts the dense montane forests and savannas of central and eastern Africa. Despite its formidable appearance, it is a shy, social creature living in small herds led by a dominant boar.

Globally Extinct

The Devil-Horned Buffalo of Ancient China, Bubalus mephistopheles, was a stocky, wild water buffalo species whose inward-curving horns inspired its infernal name.

Domesticated 3,000 years ago in Siberia

The Arctic’s primary large herbivore, the Reindeer (or Caribou) is essential to northern ecosystems and Indigenous cultures. Once hunted by Paleolithic peoples across Europe and North America, it was a vital source of meat, hide, and bone tools.

Extant

The Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, is an iconic African herbivore known for its hooked upper lip and solitary nature. Once widespread across sub-Saharan Africa, it has been heavily reduced by hunting and poaching, yet it remains one of the most formidable survivors of the continent’s ancient megafauna

Globally Extinct

The Steppe Bison, Bison priscus, was one of the most widespread Ice Age grazers, ranging from Western Europe across Siberia to North America. Its stocky build, thick coat, and distinctive hump made it well adapted to frigid steppe-tundra environments. This species was central to the lives of Upper Paleolithic humans, appearing prominently in cave art and archaeological kill sites.

Globally Extinct

The Steppe Rhinoceros — Stephanorhinus hemitoechus was a large, cold-adapted rhinoceros that roamed Europe and western Asia during the Pleistocene epoch. Known for its broad snout and thick hide, it thrived in temperate grasslands and open woodland environments alongside mammoths, bison, and early humans.

Regionally Extinct

The Kouprey, Bos sauveli, is one of the world’s rarest and most mysterious wild cattle species, native to the forested hills and open woodlands of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Known for its tall, slender build and shaggy neck mane, the Kouprey represents one of the last remnants of Southeast Asia’s ancient megafauna.

Globally Extinct

The colossal “long-limbed sloth,” Eremotherium laurillardi, reigned over Neotropical landscapes as one of the last giant ground sloths, towering over Early American forests and plains.

Globally Extinct

The quintessential “ship of the desert” with a single fat‑filled hump. Dromedaries are supremely adapted to arid environments and have accompanied human societies for millennia.

Extant

The Forest Phantom — Tragelaphus eurycerus, the bongo, is a creature of shadow and stripe, moving like a whisper through Africa’s darkest rainforests — the largest and most secretive of all forest antelopes.

Globally Extinct

Once a Caribbean giant, Amblyrhiza inundata was a massive rodent native to the Anguilla and Saint Martin islands, comparable in size to a small bear. Despite its size, it likely had a slow, herbivorous lifestyle, feeding on tough island vegetation.

Globally Extinct

A giant Pleistocene camel that towered over modern camels. Reaching heights of 2.5 m and weighing over a tonne, this camel grazed steppe landscapes before climate change and humans drove it to extinction.

Globally Extinct

The Giant of the Indian Subcontinent, Palaeoloxodon namadicus, was the mightiest land mammal ever to walk the Earth. Towering over all other elephants, it ruled the plains and river valleys of Pleistocene India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia. Its immense tusks and colossal frame made it both an awe-inspiring presence and a key shaper of its environment.

Extant

The Ebony King of the Savanna — Hippotragus niger, the sable antelope, is one of Africa’s most magnificent grazing mammals, renowned for its glossy black coat, arched neck, and scimitar-shaped horns. With a proud stance and striking coloration, it commands the open woodlands and grasslands of southern and eastern Africa.

Globally Extinct

The Marsupial “Tapir” of Australia, Palorchestes azael, was one of the strangest herbivores of the Pleistocene. With a long, flexible snout, massive claws, and a sturdy body, it resembled a mix between a giant wombat and a tapir—though it was neither. This remarkable creature fed on soft leaves and shoots in the dense forests and woodlands of Ice Age Australia.

Globally Extinct

The Scrubland Short-Faced Kangaroo — Sthenurus tindalei was a mid-sized but strongly built species of short-faced kangaroo that roamed the arid and semi-arid regions of Pleistocene Australia. It was named in honor of Australian anthropologist Norman Tindale, whose fieldwork helped illuminate the ecological landscapes these great marsupials once inhabited.

Extant

The Plains Icon, Bison bison is the last surviving species of North American bison, once numbering in the tens of millions across the Great Plains. Revered by Indigenous cultures for millennia, it was central to their food, clothing, and spiritual practices.

Globally Extinct

The Upright Wanderer: Fire, Stone, and the Long March of Humanity — Homo erectus stands as the first great traveler of the human lineage, mastering fire, tools, and endurance on a continental scale.

Extant

A schooling, silver-bodied forage fish critical to Pacific food webs and deeply embedded in Indigenous coastal cultures.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Ground Sloth of Patagonia, Mylodon darwinii was a massive herbivore that once roamed the cold grasslands and forests of southern South America. Named after Charles Darwin, who discovered its remains in 1832, this prehistoric sloth was covered in thick fur and reinforced with small bony plates for protection against predators like saber-toothed cats.

Globally Extinct

Zygomaturus trilobus was a giant, swamp-dwelling marsupial from Ice Age Australia, a member of the diprotodontid family. Its large size and slow movement would have made it vulnerable to human hunters arriving on the continent during the late Pleistocene.

Extant

The Black Wildebeest, Connochaetes gnou, is a swift and social antelope of southern Africa’s grasslands, recognized for its dark coat, tufted tail, and forward-curving horns. Once nearly hunted to extinction, it now stands as a conservation success story, symbolizing the resilience of Africa’s open plains fauna.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Wombat of Pleistocene Australia, Phascolonus gigas, was an immense burrowing marsupial that once lumbered across the arid plains and open woodlands of the late Ice Age. A close relative of modern wombats, it was nearly as large as a black bear and likely the most massive burrower of all time.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Buffalo of the African Plains — Syncerus antiquus, also known as the African Giant Buffalo or the Cape Buffalo’s colossal ancestor, was one of the largest bovines to ever roam sub-Saharan Africa. It stood as a formidable grazer and a symbol of power in prehistoric savannas, sharing its range with early humans and megafaunal predators.

Extant

The Dragon of the Islands — Varanus komodoensis, the Komodo dragon, is the world’s largest living lizard, a Pleistocene relic whose lineage once spanned Australia and Southeast Asia, now surviving as the apex predator of a few volcanic islands.

Globally Extinct

The African Colossus — Palaeoloxodon recki, the giant straight-tusked elephant of Africa’s Pleistocene plains, was the largest land mammal ever to walk the continent, a towering herbivore that fed alongside early humans and the first true lions.

Globally Extinct

The Andean Wild Horse — Hippidion devillei was a small, stout-limbed horse native to the high plains and valleys of South America during the Late Pleistocene. Adapted for rugged terrain and thin mountain air, it was one of the last representatives of South America’s unique equid lineage before human arrival and climatic change drove it to extinction.

Extant

The Tamaraw — The Hidden Dwarf Buffalo of Mindoro’s Highlands
Small yet resilient, Bubalus mindorensis stands as one of the rarest and most elusive wild bovids on Earth. Confined to the rugged island of Mindoro in the Philippines, this miniature relative of the Asian water buffalo has survived millennia of isolation, volcanic upheaval, and human encroachment. Once widespread across the island, today it clings to existence in the dense mountain forests that shield it from extinction.

Globally Extinct

The Siberian Unicorn — Elasmotherium sibiricum was a colossal Ice Age rhinoceros with a single enormous horn. It roamed the steppes of Eurasia and may have inspired early unicorn myths. Evidence suggests it was hunted by Upper Paleolithic humans in Central Asia.

Globally Extinct

The African Straight-Tusk Elephant of the Pleistocene — Palaeoloxodon jolensis
A towering grazer of open African grasslands, Palaeoloxodon jolensis likely represents the last evolutionary stage of the Palaeoloxodon recki lineage. Its massive proportions and specialized dentition made it a dominant proboscidean before its disappearance around 130,000 years ago.

Globally Extinct

The European Wild Ass, Equus (hemionus) hydruntinus, was a semi-arid steppe-dwelling wild ass of Europe and Western Asia, bridging the morphological gap between onagers and donkeys.

Globally Extinct

The Tree-Climbing Ground Sloth of Brazil, Nothrotherium maquinense, was a nimble member of the ancient megafauna—an arboreal ground sloth that once roamed the forests and savannas of Pleistocene South America. Unlike its giant relatives, this smaller sloth likely spent part of its life climbing trees and feeding on leaves above ground level.

Regionally Extinct

The Sumatran Rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, is the smallest and most ancient of all living rhino species — a relic of the Pleistocene epoch. Once widespread across Southeast Asia, it now survives only in isolated forest pockets, making it one of the world’s most endangered large mammals.

Globally Extinct

The Pampas Horse of the Ice Age — Hippidion principale was one of the largest and most widespread members of the South American horses, a thick-bodied grazer that roamed the cold grasslands of the Pampas and Patagonia during the Pleistocene. It was a relic lineage, isolated from its North American relatives for millions of years, perfectly adapted to open plains and harsh winds.

Extant

The Black Titan of the Savanna — The Cape Buffalo is one of Africa’s most formidable and resilient herbivores, known for its massive horns, unpredictable temperament, and cooperative herd defense. It is both a keystone grazer and a symbol of strength in African ecosystems and cultures.

Extant

The largest Asian antelope, the Nilgai is a hardy grazer native to the Indian subcontinent. Though not extinct, it has ancient roots and has been depicted in prehistoric rock art, showing early human interaction.

Globally Extinct

The Horned Giant of the African Pleistocene — Pelorovis antiquus, also known as the Giant African Buffalo, was one of the largest and most striking bovids to ever roam the continent. Its enormous crescent-shaped horns, spanning up to 3 meters, made it an icon of Africa’s prehistoric megafauna.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Short-Faced Kangaroo — Sthenurus atlas was the heavyweight of the short-faced kangaroo lineage, an immense, upright browser that dominated the Australian Pleistocene plains. It was built for strength and stability rather than speed, towering over most of its relatives with a calm, imposing presence.

Globally Extinct

A North‑American camel that thrived in Ice‑Age grasslands. Unlike today’s camels, this species lived on the Great Plains and ranged as far north as Alaska. Its fate was sealed during the terminal Pleistocene when climate change and human hunters arrived.

Globally Extinct

The Armored Giant of the Ice Age — Glyptodon clavipes was a colossal, dome-shelled mammal that roamed the grasslands of South America during the Pleistocene. Resembling a Volkswagen-sized armadillo, it was one of the most iconic megafauna of prehistoric South America, shielded in bony armor and built like a living fortress.

Globally Extinct

The Woolly Mammoth — Mammuthus primigenius is the most famous of the Ice Age megafauna, adapted to survive the harsh, frigid environments of Eurasia and North America during the Late Pleistocene. Covered in thick fur and equipped with long spiraled tusks, it has become an enduring symbol of the Ice Age.

Globally Extinct

The Ancient Plains Giant, Bison antiquus, was the dominant large grazer of North America during the Late Pleistocene, roaming vast grasslands from Alaska to central Mexico. This ancestor of the modern American bison was a primary food source for early Paleoindian hunters, including the Clovis and Folsom cultures.

Globally Extinct

The Giant Wombat — Australia’s Colossal Pleistocene Grazer
Towering over the scrublands of Ice Age Australia, Diprotodon optatum was the largest marsupial ever to have lived. Often described as a “giant wombat,” this immense herbivore once dominated the ancient plains and eucalyptus woodlands, shaping ecosystems that flourished before the arrival of humans. Its gentle, lumbering presence defined the continent’s megafauna—until climate shifts and hunting brought its age to an end.