Month: September 2018

SIVATHERIUM

September 2, 2018

Sivatherium (“Shiva’s beast”) is an extinct genus of giraffid that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian Subcontinent. The species Sivatherium giganteum is, by weight, the largest giraffid known, and also possibly the largest ruminant of all time. The Afro-Asiatic species, S. maurusium, was once placed within the genus “Libytherium“. S .giganteumremains have been recovered from the Himalayan foothills, dating around 1,000,000 BCE. S. maurusiummay have gone extinct as recently as 8,000 years ago, … More SIVATHERIUM

MALAGASY HIPPOPOTAMUS

September 2, 2018

Several species of Malagasy hippopotamus (also known as Malagasy dwarf hippopotamus or Malagasy pygmy hippopotamus or Madagascan instead of Malagasy) lived on the island of Madagascar but are now believed to be extinct. The animals were very similar to the extant hippopotamus and pygmy hippopotamus. The fossil record suggests that at least one species of hippopotamus lived until about 1,000 years ago, and other evidence suggests that the species … More MALAGASY HIPPOPOTAMUS

GIANT FOSSA

September 2, 2018

Cryptoprocta spelea, also known as the giant fossa, is an extinct species of carnivore from Madagascar in the family Eupleridae, which is most closely related to the mongooses and includes all Malagasy carnivorans. It was first described in 1902, and in 1935 was recognized as a separate species from its closest relative, the living fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox). C. spelea is larger than the fossa, but otherwise similar. The two … More GIANT FOSSA

ATLAS WILD ASS

September 2, 2018

The Atlas wild ass (Equus africanus atlanticus), also known as Algerian wild ass, is a purported extinct subspecies of the African wild ass that was once found across North Africa and parts of the Sahara. It was last represented in a villa mural ca.300 AD in Bona, Algeria, and became extinct as a result of Roman sport hunting. Purported bones have been found in a number of rock shelters across … More ATLAS WILD ASS

FOX

September 1, 2018

Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes have a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or brush). Twelve species belong to the monophyletic “true foxes” group of genus Vulpes. Approximately another 25 current or extinct species are always or sometimes called foxes; these foxes are either part of the paraphyletic group of the South American foxes, or of the … More FOX

JAPANESE WOLF

September 1, 2018

  The Japanese wolf (Japanese: ニホンオオカミ(日本狼 ー Hepburn: Nihon ōkami) (Canis lupus hodophilax) is an extinct subspecies of the gray wolf that was once endemic to the islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū in the Japanese archipelago. It is also known as the Honshū wolf. Its binomial name derives from the Greek Hodos (path) and phylax(guardian), in reference to Japanese folklore, which portrayed wolves as the protectors of travellers. It was one of two subspecies that were once … More JAPANESE WOLF