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I was at the Natural History Museum in London on Saturday and astounded to learn the Mastodon was still around 13,000 years ago. I started looking online and re

I was at the Natural History Museum in London on Saturday and astounded to learn the Mastodon was still around 13,000 years ago. I started looking online and realized that many of these animals I thought were super prehistoric are more recent that I thought, including the Mammoth (present until 4,500 years ago). The plaque suggested a bunch of reasons for the Mastodon extinction but one of them included hunting. We (our species) have been at this for a long time. Perhaps if the Earth was far larger they would stand a better chance.

sametmax 9y ago
I always though Giants animals have been on earth longer than we though and were the sources of our legend such as as dragons or sea monsters.
- caf 9y ago
  Well, the largest animal known to have ever existed is still around today.
aunty_helen 9y ago
For a more recent example, the Moa of New Zealand went extinct only a few hundred years after human arrival. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-...
vincnetas 9y ago
Also the famous Dodo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo
wingspar 9y ago
More recently, the North American passenger pigeon. Billions to extinct in 19th century... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
- jwilk 9y ago
  Non-mobile link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
- onychomys 9y ago
  Twentieth century, as Martha (probably the last member of the species, although the standard post-extinction cryptic sightings continued into the 1930s) died in 1914. If anybody wants to read an extremely complete book on the subject, it's hard to do better than A Feathered River Across The Sky[0]. It's well written and the science is sound. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction/dp/1620405342 https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction...
- reitanqild 9y ago
  I was about to mention the Great Auk [0] but realized while reading up on it that scientists have started asking questions about the previously official sad story that I heard as a child. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk
gaius 9y ago
Yes, Mammoths were alive at the time the Pyramids were built. Kinda mind-blowing.
ataturk 9y ago
Just because a plaque says "hunting" doesn't make it true, though. Everything you see and read is canted by someone else's opinion or agenda. Everything. The cultural warriors have left no stone un-turned in their battle to belittle and subjugate humanity.
peterwwillis 9y ago
Another interesting one gone: Aurochs, larger ancestors of domestic cattle, died out in 1627. They were famous in Greek myths and used in Roman arenas. Elasmotherium, a sort of furry rhino, died out about 10,000 years ago, and could have inspired tales of Unicorns or other mythical beasts. Aepyornis - The Elephant Bird (9.8ft tall, 880lbs) died out in the 11th century, and Dromornis was even taller. Quagga, a subspecies of Zebra, went extinct in the 19th century. Many animals may have been spared extinction by humans due to the fact that the western world thought they were myths, until late in the second millennium AD when furthering exploration brought back evidence of their existence. Among them: tigers, komodo dragons, giant squid, giraffe, pandas, gorillas.
- setr 9y ago
  Dromornis was prehistoric, and would never have encountered humans, according to wikipedia https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis
lainga 9y ago
Yuval Noah Hariri's Sapiens devotes several pages to the extinctions of various prehistoric species in the Americas and Australia, and how they all seem to curiously line up with the first signs of human migration. Only African species evolved around early apes and hominids, and learned to fear their wiles. Our current mass extinction is rivaled by the spear-y wave of death that followed humans' advance out of Africa.
olliej 9y ago
Tasmanian tiger is still one I’m sad about. The video of the last one in a zoo makes me so sad :( New Zealand also has some horrifying stories (the last group of a thought to be extinct bird was killed by a lighthouse owners cat after he’d sent one to be identified. I hate cats.)

sametmax 9y ago

I always though Giants animals have been on earth longer than we though and were the sources of our legend such as as dragons or sea monsters.

caf 9y ago
Well, the largest animal known to have ever existed is still around today.

aunty_helen 9y ago

For a more recent example, the Moa of New Zealand went extinct only a few hundred years after human arrival. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-...

vincnetas 9y ago

Also the famous Dodo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo

wingspar 9y ago

More recently, the North American passenger pigeon. Billions to extinct in 19th century... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon

jwilk 9y ago
Non-mobile link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
onychomys 9y ago
Twentieth century, as Martha (probably the last member of the species, although the standard post-extinction cryptic sightings continued into the 1930s) died in 1914. If anybody wants to read an extremely complete book on the subject, it's hard to do better than A Feathered River Across The Sky[0]. It's well written and the science is sound. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction/dp/1620405342 https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction...
reitanqild 9y ago
I was about to mention the Great Auk [0] but realized while reading up on it that scientists have started asking questions about the previously official sad story that I heard as a child. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk

gaius 9y ago

Yes, Mammoths were alive at the time the Pyramids were built. Kinda mind-blowing.

ataturk 9y ago

Just because a plaque says "hunting" doesn't make it true, though. Everything you see and read is canted by someone else's opinion or agenda. Everything. The cultural warriors have left no stone un-turned in their battle to belittle and subjugate humanity.

peterwwillis 9y ago

Another interesting one gone: Aurochs, larger ancestors of domestic cattle, died out in 1627. They were famous in Greek myths and used in Roman arenas. Elasmotherium, a sort of furry rhino, died out about 10,000 years ago, and could have inspired tales of Unicorns or other mythical beasts. Aepyornis - The Elephant Bird (9.8ft tall, 880lbs) died out in the 11th century, and Dromornis was even taller. Quagga, a subspecies of Zebra, went extinct in the 19th century. Many animals may have been spared extinction by humans due to the fact that the western world thought they were myths, until late in the second millennium AD when furthering exploration brought back evidence of their existence. Among them: tigers, komodo dragons, giant squid, giraffe, pandas, gorillas.

setr 9y ago
Dromornis was prehistoric, and would never have encountered humans, according to wikipedia https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis

lainga 9y ago

Yuval Noah Hariri's Sapiens devotes several pages to the extinctions of various prehistoric species in the Americas and Australia, and how they all seem to curiously line up with the first signs of human migration. Only African species evolved around early apes and hominids, and learned to fear their wiles. Our current mass extinction is rivaled by the spear-y wave of death that followed humans' advance out of Africa.

olliej 9y ago

Tasmanian tiger is still one I’m sad about. The video of the last one in a zoo makes me so sad :( New Zealand also has some horrifying stories (the last group of a thought to be extinct bird was killed by a lighthouse owners cat after he’d sent one to be identified. I hate cats.)