Extinct animals that may actually still be alive

What animals that used to be on earth, that are now considered extinct do you think might actually still be living?

This page should help you reasearch some animals that are considered extinct.
en.wikipedia.org...

Try and provide evidence on why you think the extinct animal may actually still be alive.

Hopefully this thread go's well, ill be adding some extinct animals that I think may still be alive soon.

Cheers

[edit on 25-4-2010 by FoxMulder91]

The only one that comes to mind right now is the Tasmanian Tiger.

Every now and then you get a report of someone seeing one.

Well first there is the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). Thought to have died out in the 1930's, it has been sighted numerous times by people since.

And there have been many animals thought extinct and then rediscovered, such as ceolocanth.

reply to post by FoxMulder91



I would have to go with the Javan Tiger. It is fairly recently declared extinct (1980's) and it range was/is fairly dense jungle. Plus there were recent sightings since then. It's a slim chance but I hope a few still survive. en.wikipedia.org...

Of all the extinct stories I like the Thunderbird the most.

Imagine a time where massive herds of bison where roaming the gigantic fields of undiscovered native America, a Teratorn comes swooping down and flies away with a young calf.

This was the real Thunderbird the native Indians knew passed from stories, generation to generation, not some myth, but a bird that has been proven to exist once..

I would love the idea that this monstrous bird is still around.

reply to post by pavil


Thanks for posting this page.
From reading it, it sounds like their is a chance the Javan Tiger is still around.

I wonder if the recent Tiger sightings are actually of Javan Tigers or another subspecies of Tiger.

Interesting stuff

Cheers

reply to post by DARKCYDE_CROWLEY


From reading the Thylacine wikipedia page their have been some unconfirmed reports of sightings, so its a definite possibilty.

I found this part interesting.
People have been offering up rewards for prove that the Thylacine is still alive.

Rewards
In 1983, Ted Turner offered a $100,000 reward for proof of the continued existence of the Thylacine.[78] However, a letter sent in response to an inquiry by a thylacine-searcher, Murray McAllister, in 2000 indicated that the reward had been withdrawn.[79] In March 2005, Australian news magazine The Bulletin, as part of its 125th anniversary celebrations, offered a $1.25 million reward for the safe capture of a live thylacine. When the offer closed at the end of June 2005 no one had produced any evidence of the animal's existence. An offer of $1.75 million has subsequently been offered by a Tasmanian tour operator, Stewart Malcolm.[77] Trapping is illegal under the terms of the thylacine's protection, so any reward made for its capture is invalid, since a trapping licence would not be issued.[78]

en.wikipedia.org...

Cheers

[edit on 25-4-2010 by FoxMulder91]

reply to post by Grey Magic


Wow, interesting stuff. I dont believe ive heard of the Teratorn before.
Which exact one are you talking about that could pick up Bison Calfs?

Cheers

reply to post by pablos


The Conelancanth being rediscovered makes me wonder what other fish/animals that are considered extinct may actually still live in the oceans, considering new species are being found all the time.

Cheers

Originally posted by FoxMulder91
reply to post by Grey Magic

 

Wow, interesting stuff. I dont believe ive heard of the Teratorn before.
Which exact one are you talking about that could pick up Bison Calfs?

Cheers

just a guess but i think its this one

Argentavis magnificens (Campbell & Tonni, 1980). A partial skeleton of this enormous teratorn was found from La Pampa, Argentina. It is the largest flying bird known to have existed. It is the oldest known teratorn, dating to late Miocene, about 6 to 8 million years ago, and one of the very few teratorn finds in South America. Initial discovery included portions of the skull, incomplete humerus and several other wing bones. Even conservative estimates put its wingspan at 6 meters and up (some 20 ft), and it may have been as much as 8 metres (26 ft). The weight of the bird was estimated to have been around 80 kg (176 lb). The estimated weight and wing area rival those of the largest pterosaurs.

imagin one of these takeing a likeing to you

I've always been fascinated with the possibility of the Giant Sloth still alive someplace in South America.

Megatherium

Unlike its living relatives, the tree sloths, Megatherium was one of the largest mammals to walk the Earth, weighing five tons, about as much as an African bull elephant. Although it was primarily a quadruped, its footprints show that it was capable of assuming a bipedal stance. When it stood on its hind legs, it was about twice the height of an elephant, or about twenty feet tall. This sloth, like a modern anteater, walked on the sides of its feet because its claws prevented it from putting them flat on the ground. Megatherium species were members of the abundant Pleistocene megafauna, large mammals that lived during the Pleistocene epoch.

Still Alive?

Professor Florentino Ameghino, a paleontologist in Argentina, heard the Lista story and began to wonder if the strange beast was a giant sloth that had survived from the Pleistocene. He might not have put much stock in the Lista story if it had not been for legends he'd collected from Indians in the Patagonia region about hunting such a large creature in ancient times. The animal in the Indian stories was nocturnal, and slept during the day in burrows it dug with it's claws. The Indians found it difficult to get their arrows to penetrate the animal's skin.

[edit on 25-4-2010 by SLAYER69]

reply to post by FoxMulder91


Probably a subspecies that is yet to be found with a wingspan between 14 and 16 feet.

What I like the most about the Thunderbird are the that there are still stories popping up, there once was a documentary on discovery with some amateur footage of an enormous bird but sadly it got deleted from the tube, I still hope for it to pop up once, just like the misssing Thunderbird picture.

Perhaps, the Baiji is still alive.

The Baiji (Chinese: 白鱀豚; pinyin: báijìtún (help·info)) (Lipotes vexillifer, Lipotes meaning "left behind", vexillifer "flag bearer") was a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River in China. Nicknamed "Goddess of the Yangtze" (simplified Chinese: 长江女神; traditional Chinese: 長江女神; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng nǚshén) in China, the dolphin was also called Chinese River Dolphin, Yangtze River Dolphin, Whitefin Dolphin and Yangtze Dolphin. It is not to be confused with the Chinese White Dolphin.

The Baiji population declined drastically in recent decades as China industrialized and made heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity. Efforts were made to conserve the species, but a late 2006 expedition failed to find any Baiji in the river. Organizers declared the Baiji "functionally extinct",[3] which would make it the first aquatic mammal species to become extinct since the demise of the Japanese Sea Lion and the Caribbean Monk Seal in the 1950s. It would also be the first recorded extinction of a well-studied cetacean species (it is unclear if some previously extinct varieties were species or subspecies) to be directly attributable to human influence.

In August 2007, Zeng Yujiang reportedly videotaped a large white animal swimming in the Yangtze.[4] Although Wang Kexiong of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has tentatively confirmed [5] that the animal on the video is probably a baiji, the presence of only one or a few animals, particularly of advanced age, is not enough to save a functionally extinct species from true extinction. The last known living baiji was Qi Qi (淇淇) who died in 2002.

They were listed as "functionally extinct" in 2006, although according to the wikipedia list of extinct animals it says some ageing individuals may still be alive.

According to the wikipedia page the last known sighting was in 2004.

This occurred in August 2007.

In August 2007, Zeng Yujiang reportedly videotaped a large white animal swimming in the Yangtze.[4] Although Wang Kexiong of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has tentatively confirmed [5] that the animal on the video is probably a baiji, the presence of only one or a few animals, particularly of advanced age, is not enough to save a functionally extinct species from true extinction. The last known living baiji was Qi Qi (淇淇) who died in 2002

en.wikipedia.org...

So it sounds like to me there is still a possibilty the Baiji is still alive.




[edit on 25-4-2010 by FoxMulder91]

Coelacanth. Thought to be extinct but resurfaced. Pun intended





[edit on 4/25/2010 by mikelee]

reply to post by FoxMulder91

Arguably with selective breeding the Quagga is alive, and so might be a species of Mammoth.
The Quagga, which once roamed the Western Cape areas of South Africa
was once thought to have been a totally seperate species. It has turned out however that it is a close relative of especially the Mountain Zebra. With enough selective breeding of Zebras with Quagga-like traits it may well be brought back. The DNA is there. This should not be confused with breeding donkeys with Zebras, which merely gives a Quagga-like appearance to the pelt.
The Mammoth species were closely related to the Asian elephant, and some species (not the Wooly Mammoth perhaps) could be bred back. The relatively intact Wooly Mammoth DNA may one day bring it back.

The only proof from this is the on-going Quagga Project (haven't heard from it for a while though). On a lighter note, when we have the possibility to bring these back (and for many that left DNA that may indeed be possible), the question arises: Where will we put them?
www.abovetopsecret.com...


[edit on 25-4-2010 by halfoldman]

Originally posted by pablos
Well first there is the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger). Thought to have died out in the 1930's, it has been sighted numerous times by people since.

People have said that the Tasmanian Tiger has been spotted around the bushland as far as Perth.

Theres certainly more than enough bushland for it to disappear into.

Im betting there is still some prehistoric monster from the Dino days deep down in the Ocean some where that has not been discovered yet.

To be honest, im betting Megalodon is still alive.

www.elasmo-research.org...



If vid doesnt work, try this link: www.youtube.com...


Fun thread btw, S&F

[edit on 26-4-2010 by -Blackout-]

reply to post by -Blackout-



Unlikely, Megalodon used to like to hang around beaches and would have been found by now.

[Mod Edit: Replaced large unnecessary quote with "Reply to" tag.]

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 2010/8/9 by GradyPhilpott]

reply to post by hippomchippo


Things can adapt/change. Who knows what a species does after thousands and thousands of years. Patterns can change etc.

[edit on 26-4-2010 by -Blackout-]

[Mod Edit: Replaced large unnecessary quote with "Reply to" tag.]

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 2010/8/9 by GradyPhilpott]