570 vanished lives

73Recently extinct

The powerful wild ancestor of domestic cattle once ranged across three continents.

74Recently extinct

The only seal endemic to the Caribbean rested and bred on warm sandy shores.

75Recently extinct

This unusually tame island canid was the Falklands’ only native land mammal.

76Recently extinct

Bright green flocks once made this the only parrot native to the eastern United States.

77Recently extinct

Males and females had dramatically different bills but foraged as a pair.

78Recently extinct

These massive flightless birds laid the largest eggs known from any vertebrate.

79Recently extinct

The bucardo was the first extinct animal briefly brought back as a clone—and the first to go extinct twice.

80Paleozoic

A slender body preserves repeated muscle blocks and internal traces important for interpreting early chordates.

81Paleozoic

Rows of scales and long spines armored this small seafloor grazer.

82Paleozoic

A flat-headed fish with a mobile neck and wrist-like fin bones approached the anatomy of early tetrapods.

83Paleozoic

This griffinfly’s wings spanned roughly seventy centimeters above Carboniferous forests.

84Paleozoic

A thick skull roof capped this heavy plant-eating mammal relative.

85Mesozoic

One of the earliest large dinosaurs was a lightly built two-legged predator.

86Mesozoic

A crocodile-like snout and huge thumb claw equipped this theropod to catch fish and other prey.

87Mesozoic

A deep parrot-like beak helped this early horned dinosaur process plants; this record distinguishes P. mongoliensis from other specimens of the genus.

88Mesozoic

A broad duck bill and dense dental batteries processed huge amounts of vegetation.

89Mesozoic

A long-necked coastal reptile paddled through shallow Triassic seas.

90Mesozoic

A massive pliosaur skull powered attacks on large marine prey.

91Mesozoic

A giant pterosaur with a robust neck stalked an island populated by dwarf dinosaurs.

92Cenozoic

Long clawed forelimbs made this horse relative walk on its knuckles.

93Cenozoic

A huge deep-skulled omnivore belonged to the entelodonts, not to true pigs.

94Cenozoic

A spiked tail club completed the armor of this giant glyptodont.

95Cenozoic

The largest known terrestrial lizard was a giant relative of monitor lizards.

96Cenozoic

A broad face, forward-looking eyes and single-toed feet distinguished this giant kangaroo.