Over the past ten thousand years, the impact of humanity on the environment has led to the extinction of many beautiful animals. In this article, you will discover facts about ten interesting creatures that have already disappeared. Animals died out en masse in two stages, the first was about ten thousand years ago, and the second - five hundred years ago. Many small animals have died out each time, but the incredible large creatures are getting more attention. An approximate date of death has been added to each extinct species.
Irish moose, 5200 BC
These extinct giants were once inhabited throughout northern Europe. They have little in common with the currently existing species of elk, which is why they are often called "giant deer." These animals could reach a two-meter span at the shoulders and weighed seven centners. They had large horns several meters wide. They appeared four hundred thousand years ago and disappeared five thousand years ago. Most likely, the cause was human hunters. However, it is also possible that the disappearance of ice led to the appearance of other plants, which caused a lack of essential minerals. For example, the growth of such impressive horns requires a lot of calcium.
Quagga, 1883
Half zebra, half horse, this creature was a subspecies of zebra that appeared about two hundred thousand years ago. They became extinct in the nineteenth century. Quaggi lived in South Africa and got their name from the sound they produced according to the onomatopic principle. They were destroyed in 1883 in order to acquire land for agriculture.
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Japanese wolf, 1905
These wolves lived on several Japanese islands. It was the rarest species in the family, only a meter long and with a small shoulder span. When rabies hit the islands, the wolf population began to decline dramatically. They became more aggressive towards people. As a result of deforestation and the subsequent loss of their habitat, they more often came into contact with people, and they began to be purposefully destroyed until the last wolf was killed in 1905.
Giant Penguin, 1852
These creatures were very similar to modern penguins. They swam beautifully, accumulated fat for warmth, lived in large colonies and formed pairs for life. They had large curved beaks. Penguins could grow almost a meter tall and lived in the north Atlantic until the nineteenth century. People began to hunt them to fill pillows with valuable feathers. Then they were caught to be used as bait for fishing, as well as for consumption. When they became rare, museums and collectors wanted to collect stuffed animals, and so the penguins became extinct completely.
Turtles from Pinta Island, 2012
This subspecies of giant tortoises lived in the Galapagos. Turtles have been hunted since the nineteenth century, and in the fifties of the twentieth century their habitat was destroyed. People tried to save the endangered turtles, but by 1971 only one male remained, who was nicknamed Lone George. Despite attempts to cross him with representatives of other species, no eggs appeared, and he himself died in 2012. He was the last of his kind.
Steller's sea cow, 1768
They were huge herbivorous marine mammals, similar to seals. They were distinguished by their gigantic size: they could reach nine meters in length. They were discovered by Georg Wilhelm Steller, but thirty years after their discovery, they were already completely destroyed. This is because these animals were very calm and lived in shallow water. Their meat was eaten, their fat was used as food, and their skin was used for upholstery of boats.
Smilodon, 10,000 BC
These saber-toothed cats lived in North and South America at the end of the Ice Age. They arose about two and a half million years ago. Large creatures could reach four hundred kilograms of weight, three meters in length and one and a half meters in shoulder span. Despite the fact that they were called tigers, they rather resembled bears. They had short and powerful legs that were not designed for fast movement. The impressive incisors could reach thirty centimeters in length, but were fragile enough to be used to bite through the soft skin of a captured victim. Smilodons could open their mouths one hundred and twenty degrees, but their bite was rather weak. Smilodons hunted large animals: bison, deer and small mammoths. Smaller animals were difficult for them to catch. The disappearance of smilodons is associated with the appearance in these regions of people,which destroyed many species of animals.
Woolly mammoth, 2,000 BC
Woolly mammoths lived in the arctic tundra regions of the northern hemisphere. They could reach several meters in height and weighed six tons, the same as modern African elephants, although they are biologically closer to Asian ones. Unlike the latter, mammoths were covered with brown, black or red wool. In addition, they had short tails, which protected them from frostbite. The woolly mammoths had long tusks that they fought with. People hunted them, in addition, they ate mammoth meat for food. However, it is most likely that these animals disappeared due to climate changes at the end of the ice age. The retreat of the ice led to the disappearance of their habitat, and then the hunters completed what was happening. Most mammoths have become extinct ten thousand years ago,but small populations remained in remote regions for another six thousand years.
Moa, 1400
Moa were huge birds, unable to fly. They lived in New Zealand. They could reach almost four meters in height and weighed two hundred and thirty kilograms. Despite their incredible growth, the structure of the spine of birds suggests that most of the time they extended their necks forward. Thanks to such a neck, they most likely produced low vibrating sounds. Moa was hunted by other birds, as well as representatives of the Maori tribe. In less than a hundred years after the discovery, people completely destroyed these birds.
Tasmanian tiger, 1936
The Tasmanian tiger was the largest adobe predator of our era, which appeared four million years ago. They died out in the thirties of the last century due to the fault of farmers who destroyed them due to the fact that animals allegedly killed sheep and chickens. In addition, agriculture has reduced their habitat, and the spread of dogs has led to the emergence of various diseases. Amazing creatures lived in Tasmania, Australia and New Guinea, they could reach almost two meters in length from head to tail. Tasmanian tigers were at the top of the food chain and hunted kangaroos, possums and birds at night. Their jaws could open one hundred and twenty degrees, and their stomachs stretched out for a huge amount of food, which allowed them to survive in sparsely populated regions. These were extremely unusual marsupials, since both females and males had a bag. The latter used it to protect the genitals while running in the grass.
Worth remembering
Many amazing creatures, such as Javanese and Caspian tigers or cave lions, were not included in this list. Of course, the dodo deserves a mention. Tragic is the fact that human activity has led to the extinction of so many beautiful animals. It's terrible that this continues to this day. Everyone knows the price of hunting, but people continue to destroy animals. We can only hope that the list will not soon be replenished with many other species of animals.
Marina Ilyushenko