Extinction

Before ancient megafauna went extinct, mastodons kept broad-leaved vegetation, such as black ash trees, in check. (Image credit: Barry Roal Carlsen, University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

Find out everything there is to know about extinction and stay updated on the latest extinction news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and pictures at LiveScience. Learn more about amazing discoveries scientists are making as they uncover the causes and other details of mass extinctions throughout history.

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An illustration of a bird flying after a giant cicada

Predatory birds from the Jurassic may have driven cicada evolution for millions of years

By Sierra Bouchér published

Researchers calculated the flight ability of more than 80 ancient cicada species to analyze their evolution over time.

Extinct Species
black and white photo showing two great auks in museum display cabinets with eggs placed on a black cushion

'It was clearly a human assault on the species': The fate of the great auk

By Alexander McNamara published

Two preserved great auk specimens displayed at a museum in 1971. The last pair of great auks were killed in 1844.

Extinct Species
A photo of the fossilized eggs next to a ruler

80 million-year-old dinosaur 'mini eggs' unearthed at Chinese construction site are the smallest ever found — and belong to a never-before-seen T. rex relative

By Harry Baker published

Half a dozen dinosaur eggs, each around the size of a grape, were recently saved from a construction site in China. Researchers say the tiny fossilized shells are exceptionally well preserved.

Dinosaurs
An illustration of a shallow pool with a flat, purple, pancake-shaped animal. A protruding backward question-mark shape can be seen on its back.

Half-a-billion-year-old 'marine Roomba' is earliest known asymmetrical animal

By Sierra Bouchér published

A backward question mark shape on the creature's back reveals early animal evolutionary history.

Extinct Species
Profile picture of a 108-year-old Tasmanian devil skill with remnants of skin still attached. The teeth are visible in the jaws.

Most complete Tasmanian tiger genome yet pieced together from 110-year-old pickled head

By Sascha Pare published

Researchers working with Colossal Biosciences have assembled a near-complete Tasmanian tiger genome and developed artificial reproductive technologies that could help de-extinct the species.

Extinct Species
An illustration shows a top and underside view of Arthropleura, and a reconstruction of its head seen from the front.

Never-before-seen head of prehistoric, car-size 'millipede' solves evolutionary mystery

By Sierra Bouchér published

The fossil showed unique stalked eyes and centipede-like characteristics.

Extinct Species
Frozen carcass of a 4-year-old woolly rhino laid out on a sheet of plastic. The carcass is covered in mud but we see fur and mouthparts.

32,000-year-old mummified woolly rhino half-eaten by predators unearthed in Siberia

By Sascha Pare published

Researchers found the carcass in August 2020 in Russia's Sakha Republic, and the discovery has revealed a never-before-seen characteristic of woolly rhinos: a fatty hump on the animal's back.

Extinct Species
Two woolly mammoths trample through a snowy forest under blue skies. A small rabbit looks on.

Pollen allergies drove woolly mammoths to extinction, study claims

By Sascha Pare published

A boom in vegetation at the end of the last ice age may have created so much pollen, it blocked mammoths' sense of smell. A new study suggests this drove the beasts to extinction, but not everyone agrees.

Mammoths
An illustration of a duck-billed dinosaur with a huge snout on a purple background.

Duck-billed dino with absolutely enormous honker unearthed in Mexico

By Sierra Bouchér published

The newly named dinosaur is unique to Mexico, and it's helping change scientists' understanding of dinosaur ranges across the Americas.

Dinosaurs
Artist illustration of mosasaur swimming near a reef.

80 million-year-old sea monster jaw filled with giant globular teeth for crushing prey discovered in Texas

By Richard Pallardy published

Rare fossils of the mosasaur Globidens alabamaensis — a 20 foot predator with strange, mushroom-shaped teeth — unearthed in northeastern Texas.

Extinct Species
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