How’s it going on YouTube? I’m your host Landon Dowlatsingh and welcome back to another most amazing video. Before we get started I wanted to remind you guys to hit that bell notification button so that you never miss a video.
Also, stay tuned till the end of this video because I will be replying to some of your comments. There have been millions of species that have gone extinct over the course of Earth’s lifetime. In fact, scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird, and mammals become extinct every 24 hours.
This just sounds insane to me. However, some of these species that we originally thought went extinct, might still be alive today. So, let’s take a look at the top 10 extinct animals that might still be alive.
Starting things off in at number 10 we have the megatherium. This animal was also known as the giant ground sloth and they were one of the largest terrestrial animals that ever lived on this planet. They measured in at 20 feet in length but they were a slow-moving herbivore so humans didn’t really fear this creature.
Early humans in South America hunted this massive creature to its extinction ten thousand years ago, or did they? In the deep jungles of South America, there are so many tales about a terrifying creature who stands at 10 feet tall, has enormous backward facing claws and thick brown fur. All of these characteristics are consistent with the Megatherium’s description.
So maybe these aren’t just stories. Next up in at number 9, we have the Mastodon. These hairy creatures are prehistoric relatives of the modern elephant.
Mastodon’s had tusks, floppy ears and a long nose which is very similar to the elephant. Mastodon’s appeared on Earth about 27 million to 30 million years ago, primarily in North and Central America. They typically stayed in the woodlands areas or around valleys and swamps.
They apparently went extinct about 10,000 years ago and most of the theories say that they went extinct because a lot of scientists believe that the Earth warmed up too quickly from the ice age for the Mastodon to adapt or that humans hunted them to extinction. So although they went extinct so long ago, a man named David Ingram described seeing creatures twice the size of a horse, hairy and in the shape of an elephant. He accurately described what a mastodon would look like and he said he saw them while he was traveling to the United States.
There are even other people claiming to have spotted these creatures in modern times. Next up in at number 8 we have the Japanese Wolf. Japan used to have two species of wolves that used to live on the islands.
Biologists consider the Japanese wolf to be extinct, however; there are a ton of rumors circulating of people seeing them in the wild regions of Japan. These two wolf species became extinct in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to rabies, loss of habitat and hunting by humans. Despite their extinction, a Japanese wolf was sighting in 1910 and then in the 1930s and again in the 1950s.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you that these creatures are still alive today, there have been a ton of sightings in the 1990s. Skeptics believe that people are mistaking a hybrid wolf-dog for the Japanese wolf. That’s definitely possible, but what if the Japanese wolf was still alive?
Pouncing in at number 7 we have the Javan tiger. They are a relatively small tiger that is as tall as a great Dane. On the island of Java in Indonesia, this was the home of the Javan tiger but as humans occupied more and more of the island, the Javan Tiger was forced to move to the uninhabitable parts of the island.
They were hunted by the humans so that they could make more room for farming and unfortunately by the time the government stepped in to preserve this species, the tiger was already too far gone. However, many locals have spotted Javan tiger claw marks and footprints and they could still be alive because they are excellent at hiding and avoiding humans. Also, in 1995 a Javan forester discovered a large group of these tigers still living on the island.
These sightings continued into the early 2000s and people are still finding evidence that this species still exists today. Swimming into number 6 we are talking about the plesiosaurus. This is apparently an extinct marine reptile who lived approximately 135 million years ago in the Jurassic period.
They have long necks, thin bodies, wide flippers and small heads. They had very sharp teeth and incredibly strong jaws so they were able to feed on any fish that came in their path. Creatures matching this description have been spotted all over the world in lakes and oceans.
A lot of people believe that this animal exists and people are just calling it the loch ness monster. It is actually possible that these animals survived and they are just living in the depths of the ocean where humans are unable to explore. If the plesiosaurus still exists today, that would also explain why people have reported seeing sea dragons from around the world.
The Tasmanian tiger leaps onto this list in at number 5. This species is also known as the thylacine and they were a timid and nocturnal creature who was considered to be a major pest and a dangerous threat to livestock. They looked similar to a medium or large dog except they had a stiff tail and an abdominal pouch like a kangaroo.
The government set up a bounty system between 1888-1909 in order to get rid of this species. So, people went all over Australia, killing the Tasmanian tiger and they officially went extinct in 1936. Or did they?
Since its extinction, there have been many sightings of the Tasmanian tiger in Tasmania and Australia. It has been spotted so many times that a lot of people really believe that the Tasmanian tiger still exists today. Here is a clip that was taken in 1973 proving that these animals might still be alive.
Marching into number 4 The Woolly Mammoth. These creatures were closely related to the Asian elephants. Woolly Mammoths look a lot like them except for a couple major differences.
They were covered with a thick coat of brown hair to keep them warm in the frigid weather. Even though Woolly mammoths went extinct around 10,000 years ago, we have a lot of information about them because the permafrost in the Arctic preserved their bodies and left them in almost perfect condition. But what if I told you that these giant creatures might still be roaming the earth.
There are a lot of people who have claimed that they saw a Woolly Mammoth in modern times. In the late 1940’s frozen mammoths were discovered with fresh meat still in their mouths. And every once in a while, there are stories all over the internet of people claiming that they’ve seen an elephant creature with thick fur.
Take a look at this video. A man filmed what appears to be a woolly mammoth in Siberia. So, what do you guys think, did the woolly mammoth go extinct four thousand years ago?
Or could they still be alive? The Baiji dolphin comes onto this list in at number 3. The Baiji dolphin or the Chinese river dolphin is the first dolphin to be declared extinct in modern times.
This is just incredibly sad. It is the first large mammal species in 50 years to have gone extinct and it was solely due to mankind. This animal was declared extinct in December 2006 due to harmful fishing practices such as the use of gill nets, rolling hooks or electrical stunning.
There were efforts put in place to save this species but none of them apparently worked. But even though they are thought to be extinct, a Baiji was spotted in 2007 by a team of researchers. Unfortunately, there was only that one sighting since its extinction but it is possible that these dolphins are still alive today.
Stepping into this list in at number 2 we have the mysterious Big Foot. Otherwise known as the Gigantopithecus, their fossils indicate that they were the largest known primates that ever lived. They stood at a height of 3m or 9.
8ft and they weighed as much as 540-600kg or 1320lbs. However, scientists almost know nothing about this mysterious ape. The first piece of evidence that this ape existed was discovered by a German paleontologist who found a large molar.
It was dubbed as a dragon tooth. For years, this was the only trace of this ape but since then, researchers have found dozens of teeth and a few partial jaws of the gigantopithecus. It is believed that this giant creature went extinct because the forest shrank and they weren’t able to find enough food to survive and reproduce.
But some people believe that the gigantopithecus survived and evolved into Big Foot. The two creatures look very similar and there have been many people reporting that they have seen this mysterious creature. Topping this list in at number 1 we have the mighty Megalodon.
This species of shark was the largest to have ever lived. Paleontologists believe that the megalodon was capable of growing up to at least 52 feet which is three times as long as the longest great white shark. No one knows for sure what the megalodon looked like because all that remains from this prehistoric monster are some teeth and a few vertebrae but paleontologists are able to make a very educated guess.
Originally, the megalodon was believed to be wiped out by global warming, however; there have been many sightings all of the worlds by fisherman and sailors who have claimed to see large sharks that couldn’t be a great white. There was also a fossil of a megalodon tooth found deep in the ocean which means that they might be living in the deep sea and occasionally coming up to the surface. After all, there is still 95% of the world’s ocean that hasn’t been explored.
All I know for sure is that I would never want to have an encounter with one of these beasts.
