570 vanished lives

241Cenozoic

Tapir-sized and short-faced, it lived before proboscideans acquired the elephant's long trunk and giant body.

242Cenozoic

A widened jaw and flattened lower tusks formed a shovel-like cutting edge for tough vegetation.

243Cenozoic

Only the lower jaw carried tusks, curving downward beneath a body taller than most modern elephants.

244Cenozoic

Two upper and two lower tusks gave its elongated head a four-tusked profile absent from living elephants.

245Cenozoic

A long skull held powerful jaw muscles, while slicing molars evolved independently from carnivoran carnassials.

246Cenozoic

A bear-heavy torso combined with a dog-like long skull and tail, inspiring the name bear-dog.

247Cenozoic

A skull nearly half a meter long and robust shearing teeth placed it among the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivores.

248Cenozoic

Dense bones helped it submerge and long claws anchored it on the bottom—an extraordinary marine experiment among ground sloths.

249Cenozoic

It may have approached a tonne, with giant incisors capable of generating exceptional bite forces.

250Cenozoic

Its estimated wingspan exceeded six meters, while bony pseudoteeth lined a beak adapted to slippery marine prey.

251Paleozoic

Its antennae, gills and clawed legs reveal far more than a mineralized trilobite shell.

252Paleozoic

Robust leg bases formed crushing jaws for small trilobites and other shelled prey.

253Paleozoic

Two large shields covered a soft body equipped with fully segmented trilobite-like limbs.

254Paleozoic

A bivalved carapace, paddle-like tail and brooded eggs reveal an early crustacean relative in detail.

255Paleozoic

At nearly seventy centimeters, it is among the largest complete trilobites ever found.

256Paleozoic

Its long pincers carried slanting blades suited to holding or slicing soft prey.

257Paleozoic

Rows of paired ventral spines formed a defensive fence beneath this small early jawed fish.

258Paleozoic

Its body was a flattened shield with upward-facing eyes and a mouth beneath the front edge.

259Paleozoic

An eel-like body, continuous fin and spine behind the head made it unlike any modern shark.

260Paleozoic

A single head spine, forked teeth and continuous dorsal fin defined this freshwater shark.

261Paleozoic

Its long skull and deep tail suggest a waterside animal that was still a capable walker.

262Paleozoic

Low vertebral ridges accompanied a deep skull and strongly differentiated teeth.

263Paleozoic

A light build, long limbs and small skull bosses combine primitive and therapsid features.

264Paleozoic

A huge skull combined thickened impact surfaces with long canines in a formidable predator.