The past few years saw an unprecedented slew of remarkable fossils. It is not always the biggest dinosaurs that are the most valuable to science. More important are the fragments that reveal behavior, extinct diets, missing ancestors, and the answers to tough puzzles.

New finds can also introduce intriguing mysteries about unknown human species and animals. They can be dramatic, too, showing for the first time the creatures that died minutes after the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck Earth.

10 Comb Jelly Ancestor

Some researchers love their jellies. The predatory and gelatinous kind, not the wobbly dessert. Recently, a scientist from the United Kingdom visited colleagues in China. When he was shown a particular fossil, he got very excited over the creature’s tentacles. The fossil, later named Daihua sanqiong, sprouted 18 whips around its mouth.

Each tentacle had robust ciliary hairs, something only found on comb jellies. The latter is alive today. This bizarre creature uses “combs” of cilia to travel through seawater. The comb jelly was a bit of an orphan. Nobody can follow its evolutionary progress on the tree of life.

However, the 518-million-year-old fossil shared enough characteristics with comb jellies and other ancient creatures that researchers could tentatively build the entire early lineage of comb jellies. It even gave the Oliver Twist of the jelly world a few likely cousins—corals and anemones.^[1]

9 Bandicoots Were Nimble

Pig-footed bandicoots went extinct in the 1950s. Like most marsupials, they were delightfully different in their own way. These bandicoots looked like they had been assembled from pieces taken from a deer, a kangaroo, and an opossum. Weighing about the same as a basketball, bandicoots were among the tiniest grazers that ever lived.

As there are no living animals, researchers turned to the aboriginal community for insights about the creature’s behavior. Done in the 1980s, the interviews revealed something surprising. The ungainly animal could gallop quite fast.

What made this fact so unexpected was the structure of the bandicoot’s feet. Each front leg had two functional toes, and bizarrely, the hind legs had one each. This arrangement appeared unstable. But according to witnesses, the herbivores zoomed into the distance like the Road Runner when they were startled.

Interestingly, in 2019, a DNA analysis was performed on the last remaining 29 skeletons in museums. It revealed that what researchers thought was one species, Chaeropus ecaudatus, was in fact two. The new species was called Chaeropus yirratji to honor a local aboriginal name for the animal.^[2]

8 Worm City

In 2018, rocks were analyzed from Canada’s Mackenzie Mountains. Nobody had worms on the brain while preparing the rocks for another study. However, during the grinding and sawing, unusual colorations prompted a look—and it changed a big belief.

To find out what caused the unfamiliar shades, samples were scanned and digitally enhanced. Almost instantly, a crowding network of tunnels appeared. Previously invisible, the tunnels were made by a thriving community of worms. This may sound torture-level normal, but it showed life where none was expected.

The rocks dated back 500 million years when the region was a seafloor. Most experts agreed that it was a dead zone due to no oxygen. But some rocks were so tunneled that they resembled the highways of a busy city. This proved that the dead zone harbored more life—and definitely more oxygen—than anyone had guessed.^[3]

7 Step Closer To Ancestor X

Ancestor X is the mysterious focus of a scientific argument. It involves the early evolutionary tree of vertebrates, animals that include humans. Ancestor X is not a primate but a fish. This aquatic grandparent, so to speak, was identified in absentia when researchers had a look at some the oldest vertebrates alive today.

Most felt that the boneless hagfish and lampreys belonged at the bottom of the tree. This suggested that X looked similar to the two eellike species. Fossil finds supported this theory. DNA tests did not.

Genetic analysis suggested that lampreys and hagfish had an ancestor that branched off much earlier. The debate swung in the DNA’s favor when a fossil was discovered in Lebanon in 2011. It was an early type of hagfish that was around 100 million years old.

Considering that hagfish have no bones, finding one was “like finding a sneeze in the fossil record” as one scientist put it. The rare discovery had features suggesting that Ancestor X was not some squishy eel but more probably looked more like a fish.^[4]

6 Unique Fingerprints

Around 1 percent of tracks revealed that dinosaurs had skin on their soles. As skin forms patterns, dinosaur feet could stamp “fingerprints” unique to each individual. However, none of the fossils in question had more than a few traces of skin.

Fingerprint-obsessed scientists thirsted for just one measly fossil fingerprint, and then they got five. Few people have heard of Minisauripus, the smallest theropod. The larger theropods were the type of bipedal carnivores that often chase people in movies. Tyrannosaurus rex is the most famous.

Although Minisauripus is not dramatic enough to hit Hollywood, one of these creatures gave the world footprints unlike any ever seen before. Around 120 million years ago, it left tracks in modern-day Korea.

Discovered in 2019, the exquisitely preserved feet measured 2.5 centimeters (1 in) long. The paws were entirely covered in “fingerprints.” The pattern was surprising. Tiny scales wove together like fabric, producing a pattern that resembled those of Chinese bird fossils. It was something that the team had expected from a much bigger theropod.^[5]

5 Ancient Diet And Digestion

When paleontologists want to know what extinct species ate, they have limited options. The shape of teeth and chemical deposits in bones can suggest an animal’s diet. However, to narrow things down, researchers really prefer to find fossilized stomach contents. Unfortunately, soft tissues like the stomach and a digesting meal do not preserve well.

In 1965, a pterosaur fossil (161 to 146 million years old) was unearthed in Southern Germany. The significance of the find was not immediately recognized. In 2015, scientists reviewed the flying reptile at its home museum in Canada. Thankfully, the fossil was in great condition.

Among the well-preserved details were clues about its diet. Inside the guts was something resembling the skeleton of a fish. Best of all was a lump near the base of the pterodactyl’s spine. It was likely a coprolite, or fossilized feces.

Coprolites are rare enough, but finding one inside a pterodactyl would be a first. Analysis of the possible poop revealed what the reptile snacked on. There were spiny remnants suggestive of a marine invertebrate like a sponge or starfish-like prey.^[6]

4 Whale Ancestor With Hooves

Whales began as land mammals and evolved until they permanently took to the seas. There are gaps in this story, but in 2011, a crucial piece was recovered. A 42.6-million-year-old whale fossil turned up in Peru. The creature had four legs.

Each foot had a hoof and was webbed like an otter. This odd combination suggested that the animal had walked on land and swum very well. Other whale fossils from this time were too fragmented to suggest how whales went from land to marine mammals.

The flipper-hoofed thing, technically named Peregocetus pacificus, provided a valuable gem. It proved that early whales sometimes lived on land, probably to mate and have young, but could also stay in the water for weeks. It was an extreme semiaquatic lifestyle for a crossover species.^[7]

The 4-meter-long (13 ft) animal also provided crucial information about how and when whales spread to the Americas. The Peruvian fossil suggested that they crossed the South Atlantic, which was 50 percent smaller than today, and came from somewhere near India.

3 Cache Of 50-Plus New Species

In 2019, scientists were trudging along China’s Danshui River when they hit the jackpot. The team encountered hundreds of ancient remains, which were duly ogled and discussed.

The fossilized bodies of 101 animals were recovered. Astoundingly, over half were unknown species. Ironically, the researchers sat down to have lunch when they made the discovery.

While eating, somebody noticed telltale signs of ancient mudflows. These are great preservers of fossils, but the Danshui batch blew everyone away. The creatures were so well-preserved that soft tissues and animals that normally did not fossilize appeared to be freshly pressed. There were perfect jellyfish, eyes, gills, digestive systems, soft-bodied worms, and sea anemones, to name but a few.

The cache dated to the Cambrian Period (490 million to 530 million years ago) when animal life diversified at an uncommon pace. The new species present the perfect opportunity to better understand this strangely fruitful time.^[8]

2 A New Human

Modern humans are the only survivor of the hominid “family tree.” Cousins like the Neanderthals, Australopithecus, and Homo erectus are long gone. It is not often that a new human species is identified.

But in 2007, a bone turned up in the Philippines. Part of a foot, it was 67,000 years old and the most ancient human fragment in the Philippines. In 2019, 12 more bones were found nearby. Together, they outlined an unknown miniature species of human beings.

This part of the world is already famous for the 2004 discovery of Homo floresiensis, an unrelated tiny hominid nicknamed the “hobbit,” in Indonesia. The newly named Homo luzonensis shared traits with H. sapiens, H. erectus, and Australopithecus.

This mix proved that it was a new species, but a lack of viable DNA obscured evolutionary links with the others. The discovery also contradicted the belief that the first hominins out of Africa were H. erectus, followed by H. sapiens around 40 thousand to 50 thousand years ago.

The small human was outside of Africa almost 10,000 years earlier. Incredibly, their Australopithecus traits are much older. Australopithecus remains have never been found outside Africa, but some specimens are three million years old.^[9]

1 The Day The Dinosaurs Died

The K-Pg boundary is a terrible grave marker. Discovered in the 1970s, this layer can be found in rock separating the Cretaceous and Paleogene eras. It is filled with iridium from a massive asteroid that hit near Mexico about 66 million years ago.

The impact left a crater 145 kilometers (90 mi) wide and killed three out of four species, including the dinosaurs. Despite the mass extinction that followed, known as the K-Pg event, no fossils reflected the disaster right after it happened.

In 2019, ancient fish turned up at Hell Creek, North Dakota. They were the first group of large species found at the K-Pg boundary. Even better, the fish had glass spheres in their gills. Caused by the impact, the glass rained down at Hell Creek minutes after the asteroid struck and before the fish were buried in mud, together with animals, plants, and insects.

It was the glass-smothered fish that proved the group had died within a short period from direct consequences of the impact. To view the Hell Creek fossils is to see the day the dinosaurs died.^[10]

Across the history of our world, from the beginning to this day, life has not had a good run. Sure, the planet is teeming with it, but relatively speaking it’s the barest hint of what has been. 99.9% of all life that has ever existed has gone extinct. We’re holding onto a tiny sliver of what life has to offer. 

Evidence shows humans have contributed to many of those species going extinct. There are a lot of animals that died before we ever arrived, but there are also some that could and should still be here today as their extinctions wouldn’t have been too hard to prevent. 

10. A Shrimp Species Went Extinct To Make Way for Land Development

There aren’t a lot of “good” reasons for a species to go extinct but there are reasons we can at least wrap our heads around. When an animal is hunted to extinction, for instance, we can understand how that happened even if we think it’s horrendous. And maybe it’s because it’s a process, a group of people going out and killing them until there are none left, it makes sense. But a species that goes extinct overnight by accident is another matter altogether.

The Florida fairy shrimp is a little creature you have probably never seen or heard of. They are presumed extinct right now. It used to live in a single pond near Gainesville, Florida. Just the one pond, as far as anyone knew. 

Unfortunately for the fairy shrimp, someone wanted to develop that land so the pond was destroyed. The shrimp species is presumed to have died out with it.

9. We Killed Off the Condor Louse While Trying to Save Condors

Humans have developed an almost unspoken hierarchy for animal life. While it’s maybe not true for all of us as individuals, humans clearly value certain animals more than others. House pets rank highly as do horses, lions, elephants, pandas and all your cuter zoo favorites. 

Way down the list of life forms humans care about are bugs. We actively eradicate them in our homes and few people ever want them around. That’s probably why, on some level, the extinction of the condor louse wasn’t considered a big deal.

The condor louse used to feed on the California condor. The California condor, one of those more majestic animals, was nearly driven to extinction itself. In the 80s, only 22 of the birds were still in the wild. 

Conservationists captured the animals and took them into captivity to help preserve the species. Part of the process of helping the birds involved making sure they were healthy, so they were deloused and their parasites were killed. Except the lice only lived on California condors so when those last birds were deloused, the entire lice species went extinct in what turned out to be a conservationist oops. 

You could make the argument that lice are parasitic and gross and it’s no big loss, but some could say if you can make that argument for a creature you don’t like, what’s stopping someone else from making it for a creature you do like?

While the louse is gone, the California condor population has risen to nearly 600 birds. 

8. Nearly 100 Bird Species Went Extinct in Hawaii 

It’s no secret that human action, intentional or otherwise, has taken a great toll on nature. We kill off species sometimes but you usually only hear about it in the singular, like the shrimp and lice we already covered. But then, in the interests of efficiency, we can head to Hawaii where humans have killed off close to 100 different species of birds to get a better look at the breadth of the devastation. 

Hawaii was once home to 142 different species of birds that exist nowhere else on Earth. That was before the arrival of humans to the islands. After that, 95 of those species went extinct. Of the remaining bird species, 11 of them have had no confirmed sightings in decades, meaning they are likely extinct as well.

Most of the extinctions in Hawaii can be traced to just a handful of causes. Destruction of habitat is obvious, but many are also killed by invasive predators that humans brought to the island. That includes mosquitos that carry avian malaria which never existed on Hawaii before. 

7. Farming May Have Wiped Out North America’s Most Abundant Insect

It’s rare that a species goes from numbering in the tens of millions to vanishing entirely, but that’s what happened to the Rocky Mountain locust. These grasshoppers were considered a literal plague in North America. In 1874 the swarms were said to be so bad they blocked out the sun and they ate everything in sight. Imagine the sky so thick with grasshoppers you couldn’t see anything else as millions of them devour all your crops and even the clothing you’re wearing as you try to get away from them. 

The species went from swarms of billions that were over 100 miles wide and 1800 miles long to nothing at all within just a few years. For years there was no explanation to the species’ disappearance that made any sense when it was examined more closely. 

It’s since been theorized that the species went extinct thanks to the expansion of farming and homesteading across America. River valleys were all converted to farmland, irrigation was set up diverting streams and rivers, and all the habitats once used by the grasshoppers for breeding went away. Because the species is so vulnerable in those early stages of life, they didn’t stand a chance. 

6. Habitat Loss, Hunting, and Genetics Wiped Out Passenger Pigeons

People still consider pigeons a nuisance to this day. They are one of the few birds that have adapted incredibly well to living in urban areas amongst humans. But humans and pigeons have a long history of poor interaction dating back to the passenger pigeon.

Back in the 1800s the passenger pigeon population numbered around three billion. Deforestation and hunting pigeon meat eventually did the birds in while the world sat back and watched, convinced it wasn’t happening. 

In 1857, someone introduced a bill to protect the birds in Ohio. A senate committee responded by saying no protection was needed because “no ordinary destruction could lessen them,” while waxing poetic about how the world was the passenger pigeon’s playground. The last pigeon was believed to have died in 1914.

Part of the problem with the pigeons was that, despite an enormous population, there was relatively little genetic diversity. Combine hunting and habitat loss with breedings issues and you have a species going extinct in just 50 years. 

5. Carolina Parakeets Went Extinct in Part Because of the Hat Trade

What would you say is the stupidest reason a species could go extinct? If your answer doesn’t involve hats, try again. Hats are partially responsible for the demise of the Carolina parakeet.

The only parrot species that was native to the area, you could find the Carolina parakeet in the Eastern US until well through the 1800s. The last captive bird died in a zoo in 1918. 

Like many extinct species, habitat loss took a big toll as their forests were removed to make way for human cities. But more than that, the birds fell victim to human whims for colorful things. Because they were brightly colored like many parrots, people wanted them as pets. Once captured and kept in a cage they obviously weren’t breeding prodigiously anymore and that wasn’t doing the species any favors.

Some people wanted the pretty feathers without the birds and that’s where the hats come in. The birds were hunted so their feathers could be used in the manufacture of ladies’ hats. In 1866 it’s believed 5 million birds of different species were killed just for hats. Others were killed just because people found them to be a nuisance and the entire species suffered for it.

4. Turnspit Dogs Were Replaced By Machines

If you’ve never heard of a Turnspit Dog, it’s probably because they went extinct around 1900. But the dogs were fairly popular starting in the 16th century onward and their claim to fame is part of the reason the SPCA exists today.

Turnspit dogs were used to turn the spit in a kitchen. The small dogs would run on a wheel like a hamster, stuck high on a wall and connected to the cook fire, turning a spit to cook meat over the open flame. They did this every single day, except maybe Sundays. The work started in Europe when someone bred them as a replacement for boys who used to do the same job.

In America, large hotels used to use the dogs and mistreat them terribly which is how the SPCA is linked to them. The founder of the SPCA saw them in Manhattan hotels and was disgusted. When technology could replace the dog, people stopped breeding them and eventually the breed vanished completely. 

3. The Dodo Went Extinct Because It Had No Fear of Predators

For a long while the dodo bird has been synonymous with stupidity. This was an idea bolstered by old Warner Brothers cartoons that featured a stupid dodo bird. The notion stems from their discovery on Mauritius by man in the 1500s. The birds had never experienced predators before and thus had no fear of being hunted. 

Humans could herd them right onto boats with no effort at all so they could eat them while they traveled. This made the sailors mock the birds for being so stupid they wouldn’t save their own lives when, in reality, they just had never been given reason to believe some aquatic jerks were rounding them up for a slaughter.

This innate lack of fear led to the species’ extinction. It wasn’t just the humans themselves; it was the pigs that Dutch sailors brought with them, along with rats and cats. Once free on the island, the animals destroyed the nests of the earthbound birds, eating eggs and young. Along with deforestation, the birds didn’t stand a chance, and the species vanished in just 80 years from the time they were discovered. 

2. Atlas Bears Were Hunted for Roman Games

The Atlas bear used to live in parts of Europe and Africa once upon a time. It’s described as being smaller than a modern grizzly but stockier than a North American black bear. Their name came from the Atlas mountain range which they called home. 

Like many species there are a few reasons that contributed to their decline. As parts of Africa that they called home were consumed by desert they lost some of their habitat. In addition, modernized hunting techniques, such as the creation of firearms, made killing them much easier. But a significant reason for their decline can be traced back much earlier, to the time of the Roman Empire.

Atlas bears were a favorite of the gladiatorial games put on in Roman times. Hunting the bears to be used in sport has been attributed to the downfall of the species. The bears would have been captured, brought to an arena, and forced to fight against arm combatants in the ring. Their species could never recover from the losses.

In the wild, the last bear is believed to have been killed by hunters in the 1870s.

1. Cats Have Destroyed Over 60 Species

There are an estimated 58.3 million cats in America. Concrete figures on a world population are scarce but some estimates go up to 600 million. Next to dogs they’re definitely the most popular pet but that is also proving to be an issue on a global survival scale. Cats are killers, and they’ve been blamed for the extinction of over 60 species so far. This includes birds, reptiles and mammals. 

One study in Canada, which has far fewer cats than America, suggested that if owners kept their cats indoors, it could save the lives of up to 200 million wild birds every year. In the United States cats are blamed for killing 2.4 billion birds per year. 

The problem is even worse for birds that live on populated islands. Cats are invasive predators in these environments and bird populations are at a much higher risk of predation. Cats, even cats that are fed regularly, hunt because of instinct not need. Most cat owners have had their cat bring them a dead mouse or bird in the past which proves this. The cat didn’t want to eat it; it was more of a prize. Unfortunately, dozens of those prizes were the last of their kind.

It seems that every day, there’s an article online about a species that humans have driven to extinction. It’s a sad fact of life that people have been hunting, eating, and killing other species for millennia, but we aren’t all bad — sometimes, we create new species.

As it happens, several species wouldn’t even exist were it not for people. Humans have helped save species from extinction by other animals — we’ve even managed to breed new species into existence through artificial selection, anthropogenic speciation, and other processes.

These ten species wouldn’t be here were it not for humanity, and some may surprise you.

10 Fruits, Nuts, And Vegetables You Did Not Know Were Man-Made

10 Wheat

Wheat is a staple crop that sustains humanity worldwide. Still, it only exists through careful and selective cultivation, which turned a wild grass into the basis for nearly every baked good ever made.

Wheat was first cultivated around 11,600 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. Humans harvested the crop to develop mutant forms. These mutated grasses yielded larger grains, which retained the seeds through harvesting. Over time, the crop we know as wheat today developed, and it has driven humanity ever since.

There’s a theory that humans didn’t domesticate wheat so much as the crop domesticated us. It was the cultivation of the crop that lit the fire sparking the creation of agriculture that led to the development of human civilization. Were it not for wheat, we would still be wandering around, eating berries and whatever else we could find.

Once wheat was domesticated, humanity stopped wandering to find food. It’s an interesting concept, but whatever side you take, it’s clear that modern wheat wouldn’t exist were it not for human cultivation of a particularly tasty grain nearly 12,000 years ago.^[1]

9 Crab Louse

One of the most annoying parasites on the planet is the louse, more commonly referred to as body lice. Most animals with hair have to deal with these vermin. When it comes to humans, there’s a unique pairing that subjects us to two different species of these parasites.

Head and body lice are a common problem for other primates, which is why you often see monkeys and apes picking insects out of one another’s hair and eating them. We “enjoy” two such species for humans and are the only organisms on the planet to have this kind of pairing.
Humans deal with lice like other animals, but we’re the only ones subjected to a separate species that attacks our pubic region. The crab louse (P. pubis) evolved separately from the genus Pediculus to thrive on the coarse hair that grows in our pubic region.

The species infects around 2% of the global human population and are primarily transmitted through sexual activity. Fortunately, they aren’t known vectors for disease, as they make up for that just by being where they are. The species wouldn’t exist were it not for humans, though it’s one humanity wouldn’t mind eradicating.^[2]

8 Corn

Corn is a staple crop used worldwide for everything from cattle feed to artificial sweeteners. Still, it only became that way, thanks to humans. In its natural state, corn looked nothing like it does now, but thanks to the indigenous peoples of Mexico about 9,000 years ago, a species of grass became one of the most important food sources on the planet.

Artificial selection of various crops helped yield the modern plant we call corn (maize). Plants were chosen based on the size of the ears and kernels they produced. As their ancestor, teosinte, doesn’t naturally produce anything like modern corn.

The domestication of corn began around 9,000 years ago, but its history is split into multiple waves. The first saw corn domestication in the Andes. This was followed by a second wave some 2,000 years ago in the lowlands of South America.

The difference between modern corn and its natural ancestors is staggering. The earliest known corn plants produced ears that measured only around one inch (25mm), and only one was produced per plant. Modern corn grows ears of around 6.5-7.5” (165-177mm) with multiple ears per plant.^[3]

7 Goldfish

Goldfish are a perfect example of selective breeding because the fish we now win at carnivals wouldn’t exist if not for humans. Goldfish, as we know them, have only been around for about 1,000 years.

Modern goldfish are a subspecies of carp that were selectively bred to achieve the specific coloration and body style considered the most desirable.

Initially, the Asian carp was bred as a source of food, but things began to change around the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD). During that period, people noticed the mutation that developed bright red, orange, and yellow scale colorings, so they opted to breed those fish with similar-looking individuals.

Over time, a yellowish-orange coloring became dominant, and the fish started to populate ornamental ponds and water gardens by the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD). The golden coloring is contrary to the natural silver coloration found in Asian carp, so people kept breeding in the more desirable colorations.

People kept mucking about with the breeding until the modern goldfish (C. auratus), as we know it in its many forms, became a popular ornamental and pet fish around 1,000 years ago.^[4]

6 Potatoes

Potatoes are another significant global crop, but they only exist via millennia of selective breeding from a single species that began some 7,000-10,000 years ago. The species S. brevicaule was domesticated by the indigenous people of Peru. Because of their work, we now enjoy thousands of different types of potatoes.

Potatoes (S. tuberosum), as we now know them, began as bitter and mostly inedible. As the species was developed into the one we know today, it became one of the most important crops in South America. It’s believed that the potato was largely responsible for a population boom between 1700 and 1900.

One of the reasons the potato is such a prominent species with so many variations is its ability to grow new plants from existing tubers. All you need to do is cut a potato into 2” (5.1cm) sections and replant them. It’s one reason the hybridization of potatoes has become relatively easy.

Widespread cultivation and distribution of potatoes have helped it become one of the most important staple crops in the world. Every year, millions of tons of potatoes are eaten all over the world, which is impressive, given how the plant started.^[5]

5 The London Underground Mosquito

Not every organism sustained or speciated into the world was done so purposefully. The London Underground mosquito (C. molestus) only exists, thanks to our penchant for digging around in the ground to make it easier to get from one place to another.

C. molestus was first discovered in 1775, and the species likely arose through an adaptation to human-made underground systems. While it gets its name from the London Underground, where it’s been found to reside, the species was first discovered in Egypt long before the Underground was constructed. It has since been found throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia.

These mosquitoes are unlike any other species, as they’ve completely adapted to subterranean living. In New York City, they can be found living in the sewers and subway systems, though they leave these places to feast on human blood. People often find them entering their homes through air vents through basements and other underground locations.

The species developed so that it has become fully suited to live in urban environments, which is unusual for mosquitoes. They cause numerous problems, including the spreading of West Nile Virus, Ross River virus, and other common diseases carried by the pests.^[6]

4 Lots of Greens

Kale, Collard Greens, Kai-Lan, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Kohlrabi, & Broccoli are enjoyed daily by billions of people worldwide. These veggies wouldn’t exist were it not for humanity, and their development is rather interesting. While all of those vegetables are quite different, they are also technically the same plant.

The species B. oleracea is a wild cabbage found throughout much of Europe. In its natural form, it’s mostly inedible… technically, you can eat the leaves and stems raw. Still, most people would prefer the cultivated forms of this biennial plant.

The cultivation of wild cabbage began sometime around the fifth century BC in the northern Mediterranean region. Humans began using artificial selection to choose the traits they favored, which resulted in numerous variations that look drastically different from one another.

Kale was the first variation developed around the fifth century BC. This was followed by the cultivation of kale plants into cabbage and kohlrabi around the first century. By the 15th century, cauliflower and broccoli came into existence, and in the 18th century, Brussels sprouts came into existence.^[7]

3 Cows

If you know anything about anthropogenic extinction, you likely know of the auroch, a species of Eurasian wild ox that went extinct in 1627. Folks used to love eating those hearty cattle, but they’ve been extinct for centuries. Fortunately, we have the modern cow (B. taurus), which is widely spread across the planet, with some 1.5 billion individuals estimated in 2018.

Modern cows are believed to have been domesticated by humans from a single herd of aurochs that lived 10,500 years ago. Through genetic analysis, it is theorized that around 80 individuals from that herd of aurochs were domesticated. Every single head of cattle that exists today came from those individuals.

Human domestication from that herd has resulted in over 1,000 separate breeds. Many of these animals have adapted to their local climate. In contrast, others were bred for specific purposes by humans, including labor, meat, and milk.

There remain several wild breeds of cattle, but the domestic cow we use for beef consumption and dairy products was brought into the world via human intervention and artificial selection.^[8]

2 Avocados

Interestingly, the avocado isn’t an example of a species we bred into existence through cross-pollination or anything like that. Instead, we loved eating them so much, we ensured they survived following a major extinction event.

Avocados developed during the Cenozoic era when North America was the home of giant ground sloths and other large species. The fruit attracted these animals, which would eat them and deposit their large seeds in their excrement, leading to the growth of more avocado trees. When those large species died out some 13,000 years ago, the avocado wasn’t far behind.

With the loss of North American megafauna, the avocado lost its ability to propagate through their excrement. Fortunately, a new species was around back then, and homo sapiens were more than happy to eat the avocado tree’s delicious fruit, ensuring it would survive the loss of North America’s megafauna.

Humans cultivated the plant from the wild varieties. Over time, they developed into the avocados we know and love today. Had humanity not found them so tasty, it’s likely the avocado would have gone extinct some 12-13,000 years ago.^[9]

1 Dogs

When it comes to artificial selection, dogs are probably the best-known example. Dogs, as we know them, wouldn’t exist were it not for humans. Our history with man’s best friend goes back further than recorded history, making them some of the most important species to human development.

Dogs are a divergent species of the Grey Wolf, and as anyone who has seen a dog can attest, most breeds look nothing like wolves. That’s due to the polymorphic breeding humans have undertaken over the millennia, as we’ve primarily focused our dog-breeding attention on selective traits that aid in hunting, shepherding, and gathering.

Early dogs (C. l. familiaris) were bred to take advantage of their strength and ability to hunt. We fed them, and in turn, they protected us and helped us hunt, which worked out into a mutually beneficial arrangement for both species.

Over time, we began developing dog breeds for other purposes, which is why we have dogs like pugs, chihuahuas, and Labradoodles. These pups aren’t so great at aiding humanity as they are at cheering us up and being excellent companions. Sadly, as any dog owner knows, modern breeds are subjected to numerous genetic ailments due to the way they were initially bred while older breeds tend to live longer, healthier lives.^[10]

10 Foods That Have Been Genetically Modified Beyond Recognition

Our world is filled with fascinating creatures. But while some creatures are believable, some have characteristics so inconceivable that we might as well assume they were created by fiction writers. From hideous birds that sound like gunshots to shrimp that strike harder than Muhammad Ali, nature is one unpredictable force. This list of the top 10 species that shouldn’t exist takes you worldwide to show you that anything is possible in nature.

10 Shoebill: Pixar-esque Bird Mimics Machine Guns

If looks could kill, the shoebill, also known as the whale-head stork, could have you dead in seconds. One crazy-looking foul, the shoebill gets its name from its gigantic shoe-shaped bill that easily earns it the ‘ugliest bird award.’ If we’re being honest, the shoebill stork looks like it was drawn by a child with an overactive imagination and a dark sense of humor.

Scientifically known as ‘Balaeniceps rex,’ the shoebill is a large bird that looks like it could attack at any second. With a specialized bill, yellow eyes, and a five-foot wingspan, the shoebill uses a hunting technique known as “collapsing.” This means that when they set their eyes on prey, they charge at them with a sudden force that eliminates any chances of survival. The technique is especially strange considering they can stay motionless for hours, making them very dangerous to unsuspecting prey.

While the shoebill is mostly silent and uses its cold stare to keep off any predators, it can be noisy too. It’s famous for a call that sounds like machine gunfire. When nesting, they clap their lower and upper jaws to create repetitive bursts that sound like something straight out of WWII. Shoebills use the bizarre call to greet each other but that doesn’t make it any less alarming.

9 Aye-Ayes: Nature’s Take On Aliens

If you always wonder what ‘aliens’ look like, you might want to look at aye-ayes first to get a rough idea. The Madagascan Aye-aye is an endangered lemur that looks like a panda, rat, and raccoon hybrid, something you might see in a sci-fi film. With big eyes, long slender fingers, humongous ears, and a large bushy tail, the aye-aye is one peculiar mammal.

Scientifically known as ‘Daubentonia madagascariensis,’ the aye-aye is a survivor that lives on trees and feeds mostly on insects and worms. With its long, skinny, pointed middle finger, the aye-aye taps on tree barks while listening closely for wood-boring insects. Once it finds its prey, the lemur uses its freaky finger to fish out bugs and devour them for snacks. The bony fingers are also useful for scooping pulp from mangoes and flesh from coconuts.

For protection, the aye-aye never comes to the ground, choosing hideout spots in the forks of large trees. Sadly, given their odd traits and appearance, aye-ayes are seen as an omen of bad luck by locals who kill them on sight. The illegal hunting and destruction of their habitat make the wild a tough place for these mammals.

8 Platypus: Perfectly Weird Hybrid of Birds, Reptiles, and Mammals

Australia is home to some peculiar creatures but the duck-billed platypus tops the list for the weirdest species ever. Since their discovery, scientists have wondered how they should classify the platypus. They just don’t fit in anywhere. They lay eggs like a chicken, nurse their young ones with milk like cows, and hunt underwater like seals.

Classified under a group of mammals called monotremes, the platypus are unique mammals that are famous for their egg-laying ability. With the characteristics of mammals, reptiles, and birds, the platypus is easily one of nature’s most adaptable creatures. But while the duck-billed platypus might look weird, its incredible skills are useful for survival in the wild.

The platypus’ babies lick milk from specialized skin that “sweats” milk, providing much-needed nutrition. When swimming in the water, the platypus feeds at the bottom of the murky waters, with its bill acting as an electro sensor for locating buried prey like shrimp. When threatened, male platypus has a venomous spur in its hind legs that works to keep away predators and other males. The females use their tails as the perfect natural incubator for eggs, ensuring that younglings hatch in any weather. So, the mystery aside, the platypus is pretty cool.

7 Mantis Shrimp: Packing a Punch

The mantis shrimp or ‘Stomatopod’ is one of the most beautiful sea creatures… predisposed to violent outbursts. The vibrant underwater predator is known to have one of the world’s strongest pound-for-pound punches. Studies have shown that they strike with the force of a .22 caliber bullet—a shell-breaking force! You can’t even keep the mantis shrimp in aquarium glass boxes.

There are over 450 species around the world, though this crustacean lives in tropical waters. Whether they’re brown, red, blue, or green, they share the same characteristics as territorial sea creatures that live in coral reefs. Given their striking power and attack styles, the mantis shrimp often target animals much larger than themselves.

To kill their prey, they use spearing or smashing techniques that are both equally deadly. An interesting aspect of the mantis shrimp’s hunting style is that the force it takes to hit their target causes water to vaporize. This means even if the first strike doesn’t kill prey, the sharp implosion of extremely high heat and light that follows will finish the job. On a lighter note, the shrimp can see a wide spectrum of colors that the human eye can’t even process. 

6 Horror Frog: The Werewolf of Amphibians

If mother nature ever produced a horror movie, this aptly named horror frog would be the perfect villain. Also called the ‘hairy frog,’ this scary-looking croaker from Central Africa is distinctive for the strands of hair that grow on its back and legs. Yet, the hairy look is not the end of this amphibian’s story. The horror frog is best known for its ability to break its own bones to produce claws in an instant. It sounds like something straight out of a Wes Craven flick. 

The frog is a living, breathing assassin. Scientifically known as ‘Trichobatrachus robustus,’ the horror frog’s hind legs are made from bones hidden right underneath the skin. When threatened, the muscles connected to the bony claws contract exposing claws used to strike at the enemy. The claws aside, the frogs get their name from the hairy appearance that plays an important role in the breeding season. Male frogs develop hairy strands to accommodate more oxygen to make up for their small lungs.

In Cameroon, the carnivorous frog is a popular culinary delight for locals. Given their violent nature, spears are used to strike them from a distance, making them a lethal dinner option.

5 Pangolins: A Tough Nut to Crack

The pangolin looks like it’s always ready for war. Its scales might be the most efficient armor ever naturally created, giving this insect-eating mammal from Africa and Asia one tough exterior. Despite their scaly shells, they can roll into a ball when they feel threatened, adding extra protection. When it’s curled up, even a lion or tiger won’t know what to do since it’s impossible to hurt the mammal.

Between its two home continents, there are about eight Pangolin species that belong to the Manidae family. An aspect that makes pangolins extra surreal is that their scales are made from keratin that grows throughout their lifetime. Keratin is a protein responsible for the formation of fingernails and hair in humans. For pangolins, the tip-to-tail scales overlap to create a distinct look.

While hunting, pangolins use their strong sense of smell to track termites and with their strong claws, they can dig deep into the ground. Once they locate an insect nest, pangolins use their long, muscular, and sticky tongues to feed. A shocking fact is that despite their armor, pangolins are capable swimmers and climbers. They can also spray noxious-smelling acid to ward off predators.

4 Axolotls: Forever Young

The axolotl or the ‘Mexican walking fish’ is an adorable-looking amphibian whose regenerative abilities still shock scientists. The axolotl is a salamander that lives in aquatic environments in Mexico where it feeds on worms, insects, and fish. It’s best known for regrowing its organs including the spine, heart, and even some parts of its brain.

Scientifically known as ‘Ambystoma mexicanum,’ axolotls are unique in the amphibian world since they never reach adulthood. Described as neotenic, the axolotl reach adulthood without transforming into adults. This means they never get to live on land like other amphibians. To survive in the aquatic environment, adults have lungs and external gills that give the axolotls their signature cute-face look.

While the axolotls are endangered in the wild, they have become great pet options since they are low maintenance. Their regenerative abilities also make them popular for research. Scientists are trying to figure out whether their unique characteristics can provide medicinal breakthroughs.

3 Musk Deer: A Forest Vampire

Musk deer, also known as the ‘fanged deer’ is a standalone vegetarian with a striking look. Unlike most deer with antlers as their most recognizable feature, the musk deer took the road less traveled. They have long, sharp canine teeth that run past their jaws, just like Count Dracula’s fangs.

The deer that are found in the forests and mountains of Asia belong to the Moschidae family. The grayish-brown deer is adapted for rough terrain and is distinguished by its large ears, short tail, and no antlers. While the fangs look threatening, the male deer only uses them to protect its territory or when breeding to access females.

As their name suggests, the musk deer have musk glands that give out a distinctive scent. They use their musk to mark their territory, which is one of the reasons they’re hunted.

2 Kea: This Playful Parrot Devours the Weak

The Kea parrot is a clever parrot with a craving for meat. Despite its colorful wings, it’s one of the most dangerous birds ever. Known for their intelligence and playfulness, the New Zealand kea is a bird that will eat anything, from seeds to insects and maybe a nice juicy steak? 

Scientifically known as ‘Nestor notabilis’ the kea can be spotted with brilliant orange wings and a beak that is long, narrow, and gracefully curved. The color and monkey-like antics of the omnivorous bird aside, the kea is notorious for attacking sheep and even killing them. Their love for meat makes them destructive pests to farmers. 

The kea are known to burrow into sheep in search of juicier parts, like kidneys. How could a bird be so lovable and dangerous at the same time?  

1 Hooded Pitohui: Don’t You Know that You’re Toxic?

Topping off the list of species that shouldn’t exist is the pitohui, one of the few toxic birds of the world. At first look, the pitohui bird from New Guinea is attractive with a rich chestnut and black plumage. But the pitohui is more than a songbird. Its feathers, skin, and even flesh are toxic.

The bird carries a lethal concoction of batrachotoxin compounds that keep predators and parasites away. Jack Dumbacher, an American scientist discovered that the pitohui gets a dose of batrachotoxins from poisonous melyrid beetles. With the beetles as their primary food source, it’s easy to see where they get their toxicity.

The same compounds that the pitohui have are identified in poisonous dart frogs from South America. The pitohui is one bird you definitely don’t want as a pet.

There are millions of different species on this planet. And from insects to whales, all of those species are a small part of a tangled web of life that took millions of years to create. Most of those animals still have relatives that branched off and survive today. However, there are also some animals that are a bit lonelier and represent the last of their genus and evolutionary branch.

Take humans, for example. We have no living species from our genus that is still alive and among us today. Our closest living relative is the chimpanzee, followed by the bonobo. But we’re not alone in our oneness. There are other animals out there that are the last remaining species in their genus, whether due to natural selection or human intervention. Some of these animals can trace their lineage back millions of years, while others are relatively new on the evolutionary time scale. Here is a list of 10 of the most unique.

Related: 10 Endangered Animals That Could Become Extinct In A Few Years

10 Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus is a furry, odd-looking aquatic mammal and one of the most recognizable species in the world. The platypus, native to eastern Australia, has a duckbill like a bird, hair like a mammal, and lays eggs like a reptile. But the platypus has a few other interesting traits that could represent the divergent evolution of reptiles and mammals. It is estimated that mammals diverged from reptiles around 280 million years ago, meaning the platypus is likely one of the last living relatives from that branch of the family tree. It is also a threatened species.

Some of the traits that set this animal apart from most mammals include its ability to use venom, its ability to use electrical currents to seek prey, and its use of eggs to give birth. Species like the platypus—a sort of mix-match that represents an important point in the timeline of evolution—can also provide scientists with important new discoveries. Scientists have experimented with the platypus’s milk to create antibiotics and its venom to find a potential cure for diabetes.^[1]

9 Honey Badger

Honey badgers, or Mellivora capensis, are some of the scrappiest animals out there. Videos often show the undersized creature flinging itself headfirst toward a lion or other carnivore that comes too close. Maybe, this is the reason the tiny animal has managed to survive as the last in its genus.

But the creature also has some other interesting adaptations that help it survive when it faces off with larger predators. For example, the animal has a loose layer of thick skin around its neck that allows it to twist and twirl back toward would-be attackers if they try to grab the animal. A study also found that porcupine quills and dog bites rarely penetrated this layer. The honey badger also has a large brain for an animal its size and has been documented using tools.

While not usually a picky eater, researchers found that the honey badger has some immunity to snake venom, which makes up around 25% of its diet. If stung, the honey badger will just be knocked out for a couple of hours before waking up to continue its meal.^[2]

8 Koala

Koalas are one of Australia’s most iconic species. The small marsupial’s scientific name is actually Phascolarctos cinereus, and it is closely related to kangaroos and wombats. Scientists suspect that koalas probably evolved to almost exclusively eat eucalyptus leaves, which are native to Australia. Koalas are also the only other animal, outside of primates, to have fingerprints like humans. These fingerprints evolved separately from primates, which has led scientists to think that fingerprints’ evolutionary function was to help animals clasp on to things like trees.

Despite their iconic appearance, koalas face an uncertain future in the wild. The Australian government declared koalas endangered in February 2022 due to wildfires, drought, and habitat loss. Researchers suspect that their populations in New Queensland and New South Wales have decreased by some 50% in the last two decades and that the entire country lost around 30% of its entire koala population between 2018 and 2022.^[3]

7 Aardvark

Aardvarks are a highly specialized, if a little peculiar-looking, species actually closely related to elephants. They are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. Though not threatened or endangered, their numbers are declining.

These little guys use their long snouts and stout claws to tear away termite mounds and suck up the critters inside. Because of this, aardvarks are sometimes referred to as antbears. Though they are the last of their genus today—Orycteropus—fossil records show that they used to have closely related cousins roaming around Europe and into Asia. Scientists think that the aardvark’s branch split from other primitive ungulates (animals like elephants and manatees) around some 54 million years ago.^[4]

6 Dugong

Dugongs are a marine mammal in the order Sirenia, which includes three species of manatees. Their scientific name is Dugong dugon, which once contained many different kinds of dugongs. The most recent of which was the Stellar’s sea cow that was wiped out by humans in the 1700s. Today, the dugong is believed to be vulnerable to extinction, though many areas do protect the species through conservation and protection laws.

These gentle giants can grow up to 13 feet in length and mostly feed on seagrass in the Indian and eastern Pacific oceans. Like the aardvark, dugongs are thought to descend from primitive ungulates like elephants. The other recent member of the dugong’s genus, the Stellar’s sea cows, lived in comparatively colder waters and weren’t known to science until 1741. Scientists believe the now-extinct sea cow could reach lengths of over 30 feet, but they were unfortunately wiped out only 30 years after their discovery.^[5]

5 Narwhal

The narwhal’s scientific name is Monodon monoceros, which means”one tooth, one horn.” But their common name might be a bit more interesting, if less apt. It comes from the old Norse prefix”na” meaning corpse and”nva” meaning whale: corpse whale. This was because their skin color resembled a drowned sailor (Link 14). Sometimes also called the “unicorn of the seas,” narwhals spend their life in the cold, deep waters of the Arctic. Because of this, not too much is known about them.

We do know that their closest living relative is the beluga whale, which is the only other living species in the family of Monodontidae. These two whale species sometimes interbreed. Scientists also suspect that the whale’s signature tusk may act as a sensory organ due to all the nerves inside. Narwhals are also some of the deepest diving whales, plunging some 4,500 feet in search of food.^[6]

4 Hirola

The hirola, a large antelope, is the last living member of the genus Beatragus. Despite this, the animal is critically endangered in the wild, with only about 500 left as of 2017. Scientists think the genus may have diverged from animals like the wildebeest and topi around 7 million years ago.

The antelope is found only in a small area along the Somalia-Kenya border, and it has seen its numbers dive by about 90% since 1980. However, there is hope for the horned animal. Some locals believe the animal carries with it spiritual significance related to herding and fear if it goes, so too will the cattle. Starting in 2008, conservation efforts began to set up predation-free areas with the community’s involvement. Today, their numbers are reportedly stable, and community initiatives have gained traction.^[7]

3 Plains-Wanderer

The only bird on our list and the sole surviving member of the genus Pedionomidae, the plains-wanderer is a quirky little bird. It is endemic to Australia, with the majority of the remaining population found in the Riverina region of New South Wales. Although it populates mostly grasslands, the bird is actually related to gulls and other shorebirds. The bird’s closest living relative is a shorebird native to South America, which has led scientists to trace the plains-wanderer’s evolutionary lineage back to when the two continents were connected some 60 million years ago.

Today, the tiny bird is critically endangered in the wild, with only around 250 to 1,000 remaining. These birds aren’t great flyers, so their first instinct is to run away from danger. The plains-wanderer is threatened by predation from foxes and the cultivation of grassland for farming and herding.^[8]

2 Maned Wolf

Chrysocyon brachyurus, or the maned wolf, is the largest canid in South America. Though its reddish color resembles a fox, this guy is neither wolf nor fox but is actually a distinct species. The maned wolf evolved to live in grass savannahs—which could explain its long legs—and they mark their territory with powerful-smelling urine. Not a lot is known about how these animals breed because they are mostly nocturnal, but scientists think pairs may live independently within the same territory and only interact during breeding.

Due to this animal being so distinct from other canids, researchers think it may have been the only canid in South America to survive the late Pleistocene extinction. Fossils of the maned wolf have been found, dating to the Holocene and the late Pleistocene periods.^[9]

1 Black Caiman

The black caiman is the largest of the Alligatoridae and the last of its genus, Melanosuchus. Found throughout central South America, these large alligators can grow up to 16 feet in length and are the top predators in the rainforest. When flooding occurs, black caimans will spread out with the floodwaters before returning to permanent lakes and rivers during the dry season.

Though once extremely common throughout its natural range, hunting in the 1940s and 1950s severely depleted the animal’s numbers. Though many types of caimans were hunted, the black caiman was prized for its size and the quality of the leather it produced. Today, hunting has largely been regulated, and there are some strong populations of black caiman in the wild, though it is estimated that they are not nearly as abundant as they once were.^[10]

Jurassic Park taught us all that if you have the will, the determination, 65 million year old DNA, and fictional science on your side, you can do anything. In the real world, science has a few more limitations, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t trying to bring animals back from the dead (or, in some cases, the brink of death). They’ve been working on it for years, in fact, and numerous species are the focus of these efforts. 

10. Gastric-Brooding Frogs 

Is anything more wholesome than a mother caring for its babies in the wild? Motherhood is one of those universal things that crosses the species’ boundary. Of course, some moms are more creepy than others. Which brings us to the gastric-brooding frog. Discovered in the 1970s, once this species’ eggs are fertilized, the mother swallows them and uses its own stomach as a womb to bring them to term. The eggs hatch and even live as tadpoles inside their mother. Then, when they develop their little arms and legs, mom barfs them into the world in a projectile vomit birthing ceremony fit for any future horror movie that wants to use that as an idea. 

In 2013, after the species had been extinct for nearly 30 years thanks to a fungus that destroyed them, scientists in Australia managed to bring the gastric-brooding frog back to life. Which is to say they created a living embryo from DNA that they had available. But it was more of a proof of concept experiment than a true resurrection. But the fact it worked was good, and scientists are still aiming towards returning the species to life.

Scientists want to use somatic cell nuclear transfer to put DNA from the extinct animals into an egg from a living frog and give the species a chance at a comeback. 

9. Rhinos

When the 20th century began, there were 500,000 rhinos in the wild. Today there are about 27,000. Javan, Black and Sumatran rhinos are critically endangered while the Northern White Rhino is functionally extinct, all as a result of human poaching. But it doesn’t have to be that way. 

There are only two living Northern White Rhinos in the world, a mother and daughter pair, which means when they die there will be no others if things progress naturally. But the extinction of the species wasn’t natural, so saving them with science is a worthy endeavor. Scientists have already created 12 viable living embryos that can be used to continue the species in the future.

Eggs have been harvested from both females, and sperm was used from males that are now deceased. Neither female could carry a baby, however, so a surrogate mother of a close cousin species will need to be used.

The efforts to resurrect the species have been taken up by teams around the world from Germany to Kenya. The delicate process takes time and will definitely not be easy. The embryos still need to be implanted and taken to term, and then the baby rhinos need to prove they can survive. It’s a long road, but the fact there’s still hope is something to celebrate.

8. Tasmanian Tigers

The thylacine, also known as a Tasmanian Tiger, was not actually a cat but a carnivorous marsupial. The species was last seen in the wild sometime in the 1930s and by 1936, the species was considered extinct when the final specimen in a zoo passed away. Officials in Tasmania had a bounty on the animals and they were hunted to extinction. 

Fast forward over 100 years and in 2022 scientists have made a breakthrough in the potential for bringing Tasmanian tigers back from the dead. The genome of the numbat was recently unlocked. Numbats are endangered marsupials that may share about 95% of their genetics with the extinct thylacine. Understanding one may provide enough information to help resurrect the other. 

Amazingly, unlocking the genome of the numbat was a remarkably simple and relatively cheap process thanks to advances in technology. It cost $2.9 billion to unlock the human genome back in 2009. It cost $1,000 to do the same for the numbat. 

7. Tequila Fish

Not many people have heard of the tiny, innocuous tequila fish. The tiny little things only lived in one river in the entire world, near the Tequila volcano in Mexico. In 2003, they went extinct, and very few people noticed. But that doesn’t mean no one did.

Tequila fish, at only two inches long and living only in this one river, still had value to the world. They ate disease-spreading mosquitoes and served as a food source for birds and other fish. It was the whole circle of life thing, and they were as vital as all the other creatures. Researchers who realized the fish were going extinct began preparations for saving the species even before they died off. 

In 1998, five breeding pairs of fish from a zoo in England were brought back to Mexico. A program to save the species began at a university there and by 2012, they were ready to transfer some of their little charges to a pond on the school grounds. They placed 80 fish in the pond where they would have to hunt and also be hunted. If they survived, it was believed the fish could be reintroduced to the wild. By 2016, there were 10,000 tequila fish in the pond.

After teaching the locals about conservation and the importance of protecting the fish and keeping the river clear, 1,500 were released in 2017. Their numbers grew and now their original river home has a stable population once again. 

6. Aurochs

The last known aurochs in Europe died in 1627. These ancient cousins to the modern cow were big, with bulls weighing as much as 1,000 kilograms, or 2,200 pounds. There have been several attempts over the years, as far back as 1920, to reintroduce the species, not necessarily through any clever genetic manipulation or cloning, but by back-breeding the species into existence. 

Basically, the aurochs is an old cousin of modern cattle. So the plan is to selectively breed current cattle species with the wanted characteristics of an aurochs. Through generations of back-breeding, these desired characteristics can be isolated and brought forward until a modern equivalent of the aurochs will exist once again. It’s not all that different from how any animal breeder will selectively bred animals like cats or dogs to effectively create a new breed. Cockapoos didn’t come from nowhere, after all. 

The species once dominated Europe and there were herds in the millions. Larger than modern cows and also leaner and able to produce a lot of milk. The current plans, things like Project Tauros, aim to have a nearly identical modern version of the aurochs grazing in fields within 20 years.

5. Passenger Pigeons

In the 1800s in the United States and Canada, there were times when the sun was blocked from the sky as flocks of passenger pigeons numbering in the tens of millions took to the skies. It’s believed their population stretched into the billions. There were so many pigeons they knocked down trees with the sheer weight of them trying to roost. And then they vanished. The last known passenger pigeon died in 1914.

The pigeons were easy targets for hunters. The advent of the telegraph and railroads spelled doom for the birds, as hunters could easily track flocks. Hunting them was an industry, and people would literally fill barrels with the animals and ship them off. This, plus habitat loss, spelled the end of them. 

A group called Revive and Restore is looking to tweak the genetics of the still living band-tailed pigeon to reproduce passenger pigeons. Once they’ve essentially rewritten the band-tailed pigeon’s genetics, which are already quite close to their extinct cousins’, passenger pigeons could potentially thrive once again. 

4. Caspian Tigers

You may not have heard of a Caspian tiger before. They lived in parts of Turkey, Iran and Central Asia. Sightings became few and far between over the last century and they’ve been extinct since the 1960s. There is a curious plan to reintroduce the tigers in a way that is far afield from the genetic wizardry being used to revive other species like the gastric-brooding frogs and passenger pigeons.

A plan to reintroduce the tiger species essentially sidesteps the issue of reproducing a Caspian tiger by noting that the Siberian tiger, a close cousin of the Caspian, is almost exactly the same. It’s also able to adapt to the same arid climate that the Caspian tiger roamed. Therefore, it’s been proposed, why not just put Siberian tigers in the Caspian territory and call it a Caspian tiger?

The plan would involve first establishing a viable population of hoofed animals in the region that have also vanished, a process that could take years. But once that’s been done, a new tiger population could be supported.

Silly though it may sound, it’s believed 40 tigers could become 100 in 50 years. And since there are only 500 Siberian tigers left in the world, that represents a giant boost to the species. Even if we have to pretend they’re Caspian tigers now. 

3. The Moa Bird

There were several species of moa birds in New Zealand that are now extinct. It;’s believed they died out not long after humans came to the island, between 600 and 700 years ago.Like their modern cousins the emu and the ostrich, they were large flightless birds, and they grew to be about 12 feet tall.  

In 2018, the genome of the little bush moa, a turkey-sized cousin of the larger moa, was nearly unlocked using DNA from a museum sample. The gaps in the genetic information will be substituted with those of the modern emu in the hopes that everything can be sorted and, potentially, the moa can be brought back from extinction. The process is slow going because filling in those genetic gaps takes a lot of fine tuning, but if it works, the birds may one day return. 

2. The Quagga

A relative of the zebra, the quagga was the first extinct species to have its DNA sequenced. It was hunted to extinction in 1878. Members of the Quagga Project have worked for years to effectively bring the animal back to life.

Like the aurochs, the quagga was reintroduced through a back-breeding process, where zebras were bred to bring forth desired characteristics of the extinct subspecies. Unlike the aurochs, which is still a project in motion, the Quagga Project worked. There have been over 100 animals bred, but only six of them demonstrate the traits that make them stand out as quaggas. The plan is to continue to breed them until there is a herd of 50 and then let them live together and do what animals naturally do. 

1. Mammoths 

No other animal gets as much de-extinction press as the wooly mammoth. It’s the poster child for an animal that science is bringing back any day now. And that’s not to say people aren’t working on reintroducing them, but it’s also a story that gets resurrected far more than the mammoths themselves do. 

The idea of cloning a mammoth was floated in 1996. In 1999, scientists found the frozen remains of a mammoth they hoped to get DNA from. It was brought up in 2003. And also 2005. Then in 2008, the mammoth genome was fully sequenced. Naturally, this led to more tales of their resurrection in 2011,  2012,  2013, and 2014.  Mammoth DNA was put into elephant cells in 2015. They were on the “verge of resurrection” in 2017 and again in 2019. In 2021, a bold new company was ready to bring back the mammoth, and that’s where we’ve left off. Twenty-five years of mammoths being right around the corner.

The potential is clearly there and if ever an extinct species was going to make a comeback, it’d be the mammoth, since so many people are clearly invested in it. Plus this latest round in 2021 came with $15 million in funding. Hopefully, results aren’t another 25 years away.

It’s never easy to prove a negative, so there’s no way to know exactly how many species in the world have yet to be discovered, simply because they have yet to be discovered. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make guesses and some estimates suggest upwards of 86% of all species on Earth have yet to be discovered. That could mean upwards of five million things out there just waiting to meet us. Every year, researchers discover new ones, and these are 10 of the most interesting we cataloged in 2021. 

10. Jackie Chan Gecko

There are around 2,000 species of gecko in the world, which is probably far more than most people realize. They’re diverse little lizards and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica. With so much range, it’s not surprising we’re still finding new ones, especially when many are found deep in jungles where they’re adept at hiding. 

In 2021, a dozen new gecko species were identified, but one was clearly the standout from the crowd. Located in the Ghats mountains of India, the new species was dubbed Cnemaspis jackieii in honor of Jackie Chan. 

The little lizard got its famous name thanks to its behavior. When researchers were trying to collect one for study, it kept springing from rock to rock, evading capture and displaying remarkable agility, just like Chan. 

9. Screaming Tree Frog

If you know anything about tree frogs, you know that they’re small, but they sound big. Tree frogs sing like they’re on stage and can often drown out a conversation if enough of them are nearby. The grey tree frog can crack 108 decibels. That’s as loud as a jackhammer or a jet at 305 meters.

When you hear that a species discovered in 2021 has been dubbed the screaming tree frog, you have to assume it’s not a metaphor. It was discovered along with the slender bleating tree frog, which sounds more dramatic but perhaps quieter overall. 

According to researchers, the bleating tree frog has a loud “almost painful” cry, which becomes more intense when they’re trying to impress a mate. 

8. Tiger Beetle

There’s nothing inherently unusual about a tiger beetle. In fact, there are already 2,600 known species of these bugs. And they do hold a claim to fame. Tiger beetles are the fastest insects in the world and can hit speeds of 5.6 miles per hour. Given how small the insect is, that’s a remarkable speed. 

A new species of the beetle was identified in 2021. The brightly colored beetle was found in a muddy ditch and only 18 specimens have been collected. Contrary to what you might expect, they weren’t found in 2021, though; they were just identified as a new species. In fact, those specimens that were being studied date all the way back to 1992 and 1994. That’s how long it took to get around to studying them and officially identifying them as a new species. 

7. Feiruz Wood Lizard

Deep in Peru, you’ll find the Río Huallaga basin. It’s a tributary of the Marañón River and is an area rich in biodiversity that continues to offer up surprises to researchers. One such surprise was the discovery of the Feiruz wood lizard in 2021. With this new addition, there are now 16 species of wood lizard on record.

This new lizard has subtle rainbow colored scales and they’re a bit larger than most of their cousins. They also have eyes ringed in gold that make them stand out in a crowd. That said, the females of the species tend to be a little less flashy in the coloration.

If you’re wondering about the name, there’s no obvious answer for what Feiruz means. That’s because it was specifically chosen in honor of a woman named Catherine Thomson, who financially supported some of the research. She had a pet lizard named Feiruz and now, thanks to her support, she has an entire species named in that pet’s honor. 

6. Ramari’s Beaked Whale

You’ll notice that when new species are discovered, they tend to have one thing in common. Whether they’re birds, reptiles, even mammals, new species are almost universally small. No one has discovered a new species of bear or elephant in quite a while because it’s hard to hide a massive beast in the modern world. Unless, of course, that beast lives in the depths of the ocean. That’s the case with Ramari’s beaked whale, a new whale species discovered in 2021 that dwells down around 6,000 feet below the ocean’s surface.

Named for Maori whale expert Ramari Stewart, the whales clock in at a respectable 17 feet in length and weighs around one ton. Because they are mammals, they have to come to the surface at some point to breathe, but sightings are extremely rare. They hover around 3,000 feet deep to hunt squid but stay in the depths to avoid predators like orca whales. 

The whales were first identified in 2011 when the carcass of a female came ashore in New Zealand and some local Maori discovered it.

5. Screech Owls

It can be hard to properly identify some bird species since they’re not all that accessible, especially in remote parts of the world. When you see a bird in a tree, you’re often limited by a quick visual inspection to try to figure out what it is. That’s why the two species of screech owls recently discovered in 2021 weren’t discovered earlier. They had previously been identified, but it was assumed they were an already discovered species. 

In 2021, DNA analysis and a more in-depth review of their appearance proved that the little birds were unique enough to be their own species. The two newly minted species are also hilariously small, at least in terms of what you probably imagine when you think of owls. They’re only five or six inches long and are brown or grey in color. 

If you’re wondering how researchers are able to study these tiny owls, it’s a lot more creative than you might imagine. They play recordings of the owl’s calls and then play them back. The owls think there’s a new owl trying to horn in on their territory, so they show up to defend it, allowing the researchers a chance to study the tiny, angry owls. 

4. Orange Bat

Bats live in nearly every environment on Earth with the exception of some temperature extremes. There are 1400 species and they range in size from the miniscule, two-gram bumblebee bat to the massive golden-crowned flying fox with a wingspan of nearly 6 feet. In 2021, we added one more bat to the list with the orange Myotis nimbaensis discovered in Guinea. 

The new species has rusty colored fur that makes it look like an orangutan. The wings, however, are jet black. The whole appearance is therefore very Halloween-like in nature. The bat is a standout since, as we’ve seen, many new species are actually species we mistook for a different species for many years. They look like other animals until further study reveals them as something new. This orange bat is unlike any other in the region and simply had never been discovered before. 

As far as researchers know, the bats are only found in the Nimba Mountains. That’s a single 40 km stretch of mountain range. 

3. World’s Smallest Lizard

Chameleons are some of the most fascinating reptiles in the world. Their color changing abilities have made them extremely famous and their overall unique appearance sets them apart from nearly every other species in the world. Madagascar is home to numerous species, including the largest species known as Parson’s chameleon, which is the size of a cat. 

On the opposite end of the scale is the ridiculously small Brookesia nana chameleon, which was identified in 2021. Whatever you think qualifies as a small chameleon, this one is smaller. Publicity photos, after it was discovered, had the lizard posed on someone’s fingertip, a penny, and a match head. Snout to tail, these little guys reach only 2.2 centimeters in length. 

Despite the fact these tiny creatures are chameleons, they are not capable of changing color. It’s also unknown why exactly they’re so small, since many other species that live nearby achieve much larger sizes. It may have something to do with the topography, but since these are relatively unknown species at this point, more research will be needed. 

2. Killer Tobacco Plant

One thing worth remembering when it comes to the identification of new species is that plants are also identified every year as well. It’s not just animals. There are far more animals that have been identified, 953,000 species of animals compared to 215,000 plants, in fact. Many plant discoveries are not all that exciting but, just as with animals, sometimes a really unique one comes along that has some surprising characteristics.

Australian researchers discovered the killer tobacco plant in 2021. Most of us would consider tobacco a killer because of cigarettes, but that has nothing to do with how this plant got its name. Unlike any other plant in the species, this one produces a sticky substance from glands along its stalk. The substance is so sticky that small insects get stuck to it in a way similar to the Venus flytrap. Bugs like fleas or aphids get stuck and die and the plant and then they die. While that sounds like it’s not entirely different from a fly trap, it should be noted that researchers don’t believe the plant actually absorbs any nutrients from the dead bugs. As far as they can tell, the bugs just get trapped and die. 

Almost as interesting as the plant itself was its discovery. Most new species are discovered in incredibly remote areas, deep in untouched wilderness, or even the depths of the ocean. The killer tobacco plant was discovered next to a gas station. Since that time, it has been identified in other locations as well.

1. Wallace’s Sphinx Moth

Charles Darwin once saw an orchid from Madagascar and remarked in a letter, “good heavens, what insect can suck it?” The orchid had a 30 centimeter nectar tube and Darwin’s reaction was certainly not misplaced. What insect is sucking a 30 centimeter nectar tube? Snicker at the question all you like, but the answer was discovered in 2021. It’s Wallace’s sphinx moth.

While Darwin only speculated there had to be a moth capable of feeding from the flower, his theory was picked up a few years later by Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace made a prediction that the insect capable of feeding on this plant would be very much like a hawkmoth and have a very long proboscis. He flat out stated, “that such a moth exists in Madagascar may be safely predicted.” He went on to recommend any naturalists visiting Madagascar be on the lookout for it. That was in 1867, so “being on the lookout’ is not a timely process. 

The moth that has been named in Wallace’s honor has the largest proboscis of any moth in the world. They have to be rolled up unless the moth is eating, but unrolled they measure anywhere from 15 centimeters to 28.5. They’re so long that researchers couldn’t store them in sample drawers with the unrolled and they had to roll them back up again for storage. 

Though the new moths are similar to other hawkmoths, just as Wallace predicted, the proboscis is up to six centimeters longer in Wallace’s.