Extinct animals you may not have heard of.

Extinction occurs when a particular species of animals is wiped off from the surface of the earth. It may occur as a result of over hunting, change in climate to unfavourable conditions and other factors. Today, I am going to share with you some species that have fallen victim to extinction.

1.TASMANIAN TIGER

This animal is native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.It was a large carnivorous marsupial. Even though it had black stripes, it is not related to a tiger.It resembled an average sized dog.It is believed to have been hunted to extinction.They became totally extinct between 1910 and 1920.The last captured Tasmanian tiger died at Hobart zoo in 1936.

2.GREAT AUK

They were large and flightless birds found d in the north Atlantic and northern Spain.They were about 75-80cm tall and weighed about 5kg.The great Auk was a powerful swimmer which helped it to hunt underwater for food.The last colony of Auks lived in the island of Eldey and by 1835,they had become extinct. The last of these birds were killed by three men who caught them on st.kilda,Scotland in 1844.

3.DODO

This is an extinct flightless bird that inhibited Mauritius .It may have been 1 metre tall and weighed about 10-15kg..The only account there is of a dodo is through written accounts from the 17th century so its exact appearance still remains unresolved. The bird is said to have become flightless due to abundance of food and relatively, low number of predators. Dutch sailors first recorded a mention of the dodo in 1598. The bird was hunted to extinction by sailors. The last sighting of a dodo was in 1662.

4.WOOLLY MAMMOTH

An enormous mammal, believed to be closely related to the modern day elephant. Its ancestors migrated out of Africa about 3.5 million years ago,spreading across northern Eurasia and north America. The creature was about 4 metres tall and weighed over 6 tons.They were covered in fur,and their curved tusks could measure up yo a whopping 5 metres. The woolly mammoth disappeared about 10,000 years ago through a combination of hunting by humans and the disappearance of its habitat through climate change. The last of the woolly mammoth population is believed to have vanished from the wrangel island in the Artic ocean in the 1700BC.

5.SABER-TOOTHED CAT

These ferocious animals lived about 55 million to 11,700 years ago.sabre-toothed cats were carnivores named after their long blade-like canines,which in some species were up to 50cm long.Quite bear-like in build,they were believed to be excellent hunters and hunted animals like sloths and mammoths.These animals could open their jaws at an angle of 120 degrees. Almost twice as wide than a modern day lion.They were believed to have gone into extinction because of the sudden disappearance of the large mammoths they used to feed on.

Guys,if you are a fan of ice age cartoons, you will be able to identify some of these animals.If some of these animals were still to be around,especially number 5,I wonder how we could have lived on this earth.

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