15 Extinct Animals That May Actually Still Be Alive

what do dodos giant ground sloths and rocks have in common they are all extinct but while some long gone animals are like my dignity definitely well and truly dead some are like andy kaufman suspected of still being out there somewhere these are extinct animals that may actually still be alive [Music] number 15 the saber-toothed tiger one of the most prehistoric mammals the saber-toothed tiger was not related to either tigers or other modern cats this might come as a bit of a surprise considering their obvious likeness but they were more robustly built the sabretooth had particularly well-developed forelimbs and exceptionally long upper canine teeth these teeth were adapted for precision killing and required a jaw with a bigger gape than those of modern cats the last of the great cats are believed to have died out with the clothes of the ice age however there is some evidence that calls that theory into question in 2002 a surprisingly young fossil jaw with links to the big cat was found in europe at the bottom of the north sea this find has scientists searching for answers and delving into the sabretooth tigers intricate family tree painstaking genetic analysis of the jawbone has now confirmed the theory that the big cat lived in europe much longer than previously believed paleontologists thought it had died out 300 000 years ago but radiocarbon dating of the north sea jawbone suggests that the species was still prowling around europe as early as 28 000 years ago dna evidence backs up the estimates today all may not be lost for the sabretooth name a new and improved big cat could have filled the niche of its extinct predecessor in fact experts say there are at least four different families of animals developing the saber-like canines as a hunting adaptation like this video smash the subscribe button and click the notification bell right now or slenderman will come from under your bed while you're sleeping number 14 woolly mammoth the ice age had many memorable creatures but the one who leads the pack is the woolly mammoth based on best estimates the legendary mammal was reported extinct around 2000 bc standing at an imposing 11 feet tall weighing up to six and a half tons and with imposing tusks this character would be pretty noticeable so why has this timeline been called into question a sighting by a french man in the 1920s of a huge elephant-like creature plus an intriguing find in 1948 and other sightings since then may well be legitimate in 1948 a frozen mammoth was discovered in siberia completely intact after a close examination its meat was found to still be fresh a fact that adds further speculation to the rumors that these giant mammoths may still be living amongst us there are many cold regions on the planet that are not populated by man and considered too dangerous to explore do you think it's possible that mammoths could be living in these isolated parts of the globe number 13. the megalodon it would be difficult to think of anything more terrifying than coming face to face with an enormous shark in the deep dark depths of the ocean but imagine if you will meeting up with one of the biggest sharks to ever grace the planet the megalodon is believed to have lived over 2 million years ago its behavior and physical attributes are similar to that of the great white shark but its size is significantly larger a typical great white would measure no longer than about 16 feet long whereas the megalodon could have measured as much as 70 feet that's one massive shark in their day the meg would have mainly dined on whales and would easily have been the king of predators in the ocean changing global climate conditions and increased competition for a dwindling food supply are believed to have caused the megalodon to die out and eventually become extinct but there have been reports that the monster still lurks below the ocean's surface what was believed to be a megalodon tooth was dredged up in 1875 and discovery channel have featured several episodes about the prehistoric species documenting scientific research that it may not have been extinct for as long as first thought if at all there's even footage of encounters with a large shark including one that is believed responsible for capsizing a south african charter vessel this information may not be conclusive but these sharks did exist and it's not impossible that an undocumented species of the megalodon does still live in the ocean now that's scary number 12 the moa there were once nine species of this now extinct flightless bird the moa was native to new zealand and could reach about 12 feet in height with its neck outstretched when polynesians settled in new zealand around 1280 bird numbers were estimated at just below 60 thousand it was initially only hunted by host's eagle but between 1320 and 1350 the maori arrived in new zealand in several waves and it's believed that the moa became extinct around 200 years later this was mainly due to over hunting scientists at harvard university have assembled the first nearly complete genetic material of the little bush moa this achievement moves the field of extinct organisms closer to the goal of de-extinction effectively bringing vanished species back to life by slipping the genetic material into the egg of a living species stuart brand co-founder of the non-profit conservation group revive and restore believes de-extinction probability increases with every improvement in ancient dna analysis the aim of the research is to resurrect vanished species including the passenger pigeon and the woolly mammoth it's all very exciting for the moab whose dna was reconstructed from the toe bone of a museum specimen there may need to be a little more genetic tinkering and a lot of egg but scientists are confident it can be done number 11 cave bear about 25 000 years ago during the peak of the last glacial period the population of prehistoric cave bears dwindled to a trickle not long after there were none once a flourishing species commonly found roaming the high alpines of europe and asia the cave bear stood close to 3.5 meters tall when rearing up and had a very similar skeleton to the brown bear today a new study has found their dna continues to live on with findings revealing between 0.9 and 2.4 percent of modern brown bear dna comes from the ancient cave bear this information may well rewrite the world's understanding of extinction and whether it should be considered absolute the word extinct may now be thought of as old-fashioned as scientists say the fragments of an animal's gene pool can survive for tens of thousands of years after its disappearance this genetic material can continue to live on in modern day animals effectively blurring the lines between the extinct and the living research has shown that neanderthal dna is present in modern day humans this fact alone creates more questions than answers wouldn't you say number 10 megalania is this giant gowana that inhabited southern australia really extinct named megalania or ancient great roamer by paleontologist sir richard owen in 1859 the massive reptile is believed to have died out around 50 000 years ago but is it feasible that the subtropical rainforests of australia could still be home to the gigantic marauding lizards if these jurassic park-like beasts are still alive what has stopped them from unleashing hell on visitors to the rainforests with a reputation for being vicious the megalania is believed to have roamed the wilds of australia for many years with richard owen describing the beast as a terrible reptile and an ancient giant butcher it certainly seems absurd that these monster lizards could exist in stealth and not be found captured or killed but scientists believe it is possible there have also been sightings both in the latter part of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century each sounding very much like surviving examples of the megalania these sightings aren't confined to australia either some have reported seeing a large lizard in new guinea so if you're ever taking a trek through the subtropical terrain of australia or parts of new guinea it might pay to be vigilant and keep an eye out number nine mokalum according to legends the mokelum is an amphibious dinosaur-like creature that lives in caves digs in river banks and feeds on elephants hippos and crocodiles now it's common knowledge that dinosaurs died out long ago even before man roamed the earth why they died out has often been called into question with all manner of theories surrounding the sudden extinction of the giant creature rumors of their continued existence continue to circle the globe they have captured the public's imagination for well over a century with sir arthur conan doyle publishing a book about the suggestion the lost world follows the survival of dinosaurs in modern times the book is set in the remote venezuelan jungle and inspired the jurassic park movie series these may all have been based on fiction but some people believe there's some truth to the rumor that dinosaurs still linger hiding in the remote jungles of central africa but although the suggestion is certainly intriguing it seems almost impossible that a reptile the size of a t-rex for example could be hiding in plain sight somewhere in the world therefore with no scientific proof of an african dinosaur-like animal the mokelum bemb is now considered merely a 20th century creation like into a modern day loch ness monster number eight coelacanth when it comes to extinction barely any species is exempt there are even several fish on the list including the primitive looking coelacanth that is believed to have exited the earth at the same time as the dinosaur essentially this means that the fish hasn't been seen for 65 million years but this may not be the case in 1938 a south african museum curator discovered what appeared to be the bizarre lobe-finned fish while on a local fishing trawler this reignited the debate surrounding its extinction and set the world of science alight the elusive deep sea creatures were believed to live at depths of up to 2 300 feet below the ocean's surface near the kimoro's islands off the east coast of africa and in the waters off sulawesi indonesia these living fossils can also be huge reaching 6.5 feet or more and weighing almost 200 pounds scientists estimate that they can live up to 60 years or more hiding in underwater caves by day and venturing out to feed at night number 7 megatherium this giant ground sloth roamed south america for some 5.3 million years before falling victim to mass extinction however some rainforest natives believe it may still be alive the megatherium or at least something very similar has apparently been seen roving through the forest trees the elephant-sized sloth was believed extinct however in 1788 an interesting find raised questions about that theory archaeologist manuel torres discovered a rare fossil specimen on the banks of the lujan river in eastern argentina although he didn't recognize it he believed it was worth investigating further torres sent it to the spanish national museum of natural history in madrid spain it was assembled and mounted for display and it was here that it caught the eye of french paleontologist georgia cuvier who decided to explore its anatomy and taxonomy further he managed to create a more complete picture of the megatherium's history publishing a paper on it in 1796. in the paper he theorized that the giant sloth may have been an early ancestor of the modern equivalent further study confirmed its habitat diet and reproductive cycle the megatherium lived in large groups had very few predators and a tolerance for most food types it was able to migrate and thrive all over the continent for millions of years so how did such a resilient mammal die out or did it number 6 dodo another extinct flightless bird but with very few similarities to our friend the moa the dodo was about 1 meter tall and may have weighed up to 17.5 kilograms unlike the moa the dodo was born with wings but may have neglected to use them for flight due to the availability of abundant food sources at ground level predators were also relatively absent on their native island of mauritius east of madagascar in the indian ocean the first ever recorded mention of the bird was in 1598 and the last in 1662 hunted by sailors and invasive species and with its habitat destroyed the dodo had no chance their extinction wasn't immediately recorded however as many believed they were simply a mythical creature 19th century research of the remains of four specimens put paid to that theory and since then a large amount of sub-fossil material has been collected on mauritius there's also some evidence that the bird may still be alive with night vision video uploaded to the internet showing what appears to be a live dodo walking past an iguana in costa rica whether the video is authentic remains to be seen but it's certainly got scientists scrambling to secure dna evidence and subsequent confirmation of the find could dodos have lived that long in costa rica without being discovered only time will tell i guess number tasmanian tiger the thylacine or tasmanian tiger is believed to have become extinct in 1936 however mysterious sightings may suggest it is still roaming the earth according to documents released by the tasmanian government there have been eight sightings of the tiger in the last few years with the most recent in july of 2019 a man found what appeared to be a tasmanian tiger footprint in hobart tasmania the carnivorous marsupial is believed to have eaten kangaroos wombats and sheep however it was hunted to extinction in the 19th century by british settlers in tasmania the last tasmanian tiger died in captivity in hobart's bomaris zoo on september 7 1936 or so we thought a document released by tasmania's department of primary industries parks water and environment last year calls into question their extinction with several experts and hunters thinking the species may still be alive as well as the footprint discovery in hobart in 2019 a couple saw an animal they were 100 certain was a tasmanian tiger near karina in 2017. you mean like stripes yeah yeah definitely stripes definitely had dark lines like stripes another sighting in february 2018 in western tasmania described a large cat-like creature with black stripe markings on the back of its body since the tiger's supposed extinction there have been more than 400 reported sightings with the tasmania parks and wildlife service investigating all of them none have yielded any definitive proof but surely it's only a matter of time don't you think number four platypus fish the platypus was first encountered by europeans in 1798 and was described as an amphibious animal of the mole species today the semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal is the sole living representative of its family one of those members was the platypus fish a prehistoric fish that had some similarities to its duck-billed beaver-tailed ancestor closes its eyes while searching for food the ancient fish that is native to australia has been reconstructed by paleontologists using fossils that date back millions of years a picture has now been painted of the strange-looking fish that once swam on the sea floor like a stingray and had the long bill of a platypus it might not be a living example but it's certainly lifelike scientists examining the fossils found in limestone around the lake burnduck dam at the head of the murrumbidgee river say that they could date back to the early devonian period more than 175 million years before the first dinosaurs the fossils were discovered in 1969 and were considered the strangest species of fish found in the ancient ecosystem number three siberian unicorns if you ever thought that unicorns were simply the stuff of fairy tales this little tail might have you reconsidering the elasmatherium is a large rhinoceros that is now extinct it is believed to have died out as late as 39 000 years ago known as the siberian unicorn it was the size of a mammoth and is thought to have had a large thick horn on its forehead quite unlike the rhino we see today recent studies of fossilized bones and dna testing have confirmed that these four ton animals could have met our ancestors thanks to leaps forward and technology a complete skull at the natural history museum was dated and found to be less than 40 000 years old previous estimates dated the rhinos extinction at around 200 000 years ago this information is regarded as pivotal in natural history and confirms the species survived until at least 39 000 years ago when they were alive the siberian unicorn would have been one of 250 species of rhino today there are just five so although the rhino may now be extinct its ancestors are not adding further fuel to the belief that unicorns are real and still roam the earth today number two irish elk a giant deer that once inhabited parts of europe and asia may soon walk the earth again thanks to advances in cloning skeletal remains of the irish elk have been found in bogs in ireland with most carbon dated to around 7 700 years ago although sharing the elk name with the living species we see today the irish elk is not believed to be closely related at all according to mother nature network there have been many well-preserved fossils of this majestic 7-foot tall creature found which make it an obvious candidate for experimental cloning if the cloning is successful the irish elk will essentially be resurrected and many scientists believe this could become a viable option in the future but some extinct species will make better candidates than others with ancient animals preserved in permafrost during the last ice age topping that list it certainly could be an experiment worth keeping an eye on that's for sure number one horox an ancestor of the domestic cattle we see today might just make a comeback the auroch lived throughout europe asia and north africa until 1627. when the large and wild species became extinct scientists now believe they may be able to bring it back through selective breeding of cattle that carry a portion of auroch dna this would make for an interesting crossbreed given the bovine measured up to seven feet tall european science teams have been selectively breeding cattle since 2009. they hope that by breeding and selecting offspring that show more aroc-like traits that they will eventually recreate something very similar to the lost animal the process is known as back breeding and was first attempted in the 1930s by german zoo directors lutz and heinz heck their creation was a mix of domestic cattle and fighting bulls from spain now known as the heck cattle it took only 12 years to achieve the brothers focused more on size and aggression than on being faithful to the structural description of the aurochs hence why het cattle aren't considered actual recreations of the extinct species some argue that bringing extinct species back is unethical others believe it is their duty to do so whatever your opinion there is one benefit to competing back breeders in their drive to bring one species back several others are almost certain to be created in the process it's a win-win really there are many animals from years gone by that never made it to our generation and we're not just talking about the prehistoric ones like the dinosaur either imagine if you could turn back time and see some of these extinct animals up close and personal in their natural habitat how great would that be which animal would be first on your must-see list also check out our other cool stuff showing up on screen right now see you next time

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Keywords: extinct animals, animals, extinct, extinction, prehistoric animals, animal, alive, prehistoric, endangered species, species, education, animal extinction, endangered animals, extinct animals found alive, extinct creatures, extinct animals alive, ancient animals, discovered, rarest animals, endangered, extinct species, strange animals, extinct or alive, science, best, still alive, exists, rare, nature, unique animals, rediscovered animals, rediscovered species, weird animals, weird creatures

Id: fB4avk9lqLM

Length: 25min 21sec (1521 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 30 2020