Steller’s sea cow
The largest mammals, other than whales, to have existed in the holocene epoch, the Steller’s sea cow reached up to nine metres in length but was hunted to extinction in 1768, within 27 years of its discovery by Europeans.
Moa
The Moa was a large species of flightless bird native to New Zealand. They could grow to almost 4m in height (12ft) and weigh 230kg (520lb). Despite their incredible height, the bird's vertebrae suggest they spent much of their time with their necks pointed forward. These long necks likely produced low-pitched, resonant calling sounds.
Atlas Bear
The Atlas bear is an extinct bear subspecies found in Northern Africa. Zoologists classified it as a separate species after it was brought to the public's attention by a serviceman in 1840. This species was stockier and sturdier than the American black bear. It was Africa's only native bear that survived into modern times.
Golden Toad
The golden toad was once abundant in a small region of Costa Rica. The toad's main habitat was on a cold, wet ridge called Brillante - where 1500 of them had been breeding since 1972. However, the last documented mating episode occurred in April of 1987, and now they are all gone.
Pinta Island Tortoise
The Pinta Island tortoise was a subspecies of giant tortoise that lived on the Galapagos Islands. They slept for about 16 hours a day and drank large quantities of water to store for use at a later time.
Desert Rat Kangaroo
This small, hopping marsupial from the desert regions of Central Australia was discovered in the early 1840s - and then wasn't recorded for the next 90 years. The species was then rediscovered in 1931, but that last colony died out too; a 2011 reported sighting of a desert rat kangaroo nest yielded no usable DNA.
Laughing Owl
Named after its laugh-like calls, the Laughing owl generally lived in the rocky, low rainfall areas and forests of New Zealand. It became extinct in around 1914 after Europeans introduced predators such as cats and stoats, which hunted the owls. There have been a few sightings of the Laughing owl over the years, but none have been confirmed yet.
Japanese Honshū Wolf
The Japanese Honshū wolf is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf; once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. The last valid specimens were recorded in 1905 - though there have been hoaxes that only turned out to be feral dogs.
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