extinction

When you think of extinct animals, you might go to a saber-toothed cat, or the infamous dodo. But there are, unfortunately, a lot more recent animals that have gone the way of that ill-fated bird.

As you dig into your Thanksgiving dessert this year, be sure to think of the heaping piles of dung that made the delicious treat possible.

From Martha the passenger pigeon to Lonesome George the Pinta Island tortoise, these endlings had an unfortunate claim to fame.

So many of them are in danger of going extinct.

These flowers made famous by the internet may become extinct if we don‘t act now.

A rare gecko once thought to be lost is making a comeback in the Galápagos.

This insect was found for the first time since 1980.

A rare grasshopper once believed to be extinct has been spotted for the first time since 1980—but habitat loss may threaten its future.

A Scottish wildcat, likely with some domestic house cat mixed in.

These fluffy, scaly, and feathered friends will be missed.

“It’s like if you took a chimpanzee and edited its genome to be a little taller and hairless, and then said you brought back Neanderthals,” one scientist said.

Newly metamorphosed Darwin’s froglet at London Zoo.

The Southern Darwin’s frog is unique in the amphibian world, and conservationists are racing to save it from extinction.

A scene from the La Brea Tar Pits with models of Ice Age animals.

There’s a gooey time capsule in the heart of Los Angeles, left over from an era when saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, camels, and giant sloths prowled southern California.

The monarch butterfly is facing challenges.

Conservationists warn that the monarch could die out by the end of the century unless action is taken.

The online database covers nearly all the fossils discovered in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s open-access fossil database makes it easier for scientists to collaborate.

The shelf-sized mammoth comes with three sets of tusks, including one with battle damage.

Dodos were more agile than most people think.

What you think you know about the dodo bird is probably wrong.

Chemical signatures from the Chicxulub asteroid’s impact—which caused a mass extinction on Earth 66 million years ago—match those of carbonaceous meteorites formed beyond Jupiter.

Irish wolfhound and puppy at Crufts 2024 dog show

When dog breeds fall out of fashion, they risk disappearing all together.

Babies named Blake, Amanda, and Aiden will be rare in 2024.

As more Millennials have children, many of them are shying away from names that were popular in their own classrooms decades ago.

Skeleton projected onto life-sized elephant model at ’The Secret World of Elephants’ exhibit.

A new exhibit coming to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City examines elephants’ past, present, and future.

Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers in John James Audubon's ‘Birds of America.’

Here’s your introduction to this legendary, (maybe?) extinct avian—and a look-alike species that might be the source of all the rumors.

Jacques Barraband, ‘Carolina Parakeet’ (1801)

The North American parrots vanished mysteriously in the early 20th century. Now scientists are closer to solving their disappearance.

Woolly mammoths may have existed alongside humans for millennia, according to one study.

When did woolly mammoths go extinct? Their fossilized bones say one thing, but their poop paints a messier picture.

A new study explains how T. rex's feathered ancestors may have survived the extinction event that wiped out nearly half of all quadrupeds.

An illustration of a woolly mammoth, blissfully unaware of its species impending doom.

How many ice ages have there been so far? The same number of ‘Ice Age’ movies that have been released. (Five.)

New research suggests that the real-life inspiration for Ghost from 'Game of Thrones' wasn’t a wolf species.

8 Animals That Recently Went Extinct

How Mammoth Poop Gave Us Pumpkin Pie

6 Animals That Were the Last of Their Species

Monkey Face ‘Dracula’ Orchids Are Under Threat

Tiny Gecko Rediscovered on Galápagos Island Where It Was Feared Extinct

‘Extinct’ Monte Gordo Grasshopper Spotted on African Island for First Time in 45 Years

8 Animals That Recently Went Extinct

Does De-Extinction Actually Work?

London Zoo Welcomes 33 Endangered Froglets That Emerged From Their Fathers’ Mouths

10 Fascinating Facts About the La Brea Tar Pits

Monarch Butterflies May Soon Be Protected By the Endangered Species Act

New Zealand Is the First Country to Open Its Fossil Database to the Public

PBS’s Woolly Mammoth Action Figure Recreates the Majestic Beast at 1:18 Scale

Dodos May Have Been Fast and Strong, Contradicting Stereotypes

Asteroid That Wiped Out Dinosaurs Likely Came From the Outer Solar System

9 Dog Breeds at Risk of Disappearing

20 Once-Popular Baby Names Now At Risk of Disappearing

Explore the Secret World of Elephants With the American Museum of Natural History’s New Exhibition

10 Facts About Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers, North America’s Most Famous (Probably) Extinct Bird

The Curious Extinction of the Carolina Parakeet: An Avian Cold Case

How Mammoth Poop Is Changing What We Know About Their Extinction

"Volcanic Winters" May Have Allowed Big Dinosaurs to Emerge, Study Finds

20 Cool Facts About the Ice Age

Game of Thrones’s Dire Wolves Existed—But a New Study Suggests They Weren’t Really Wolves