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The term megafauna (Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 megas "large" + New Latin
New Latin

The term New Latin or Neo-Latin is used to describe a form the Latin language used after the end of the Medieval Latin period to c. 1900, and in a very limited fashion, down to the present day....
 fauna "animal") has two distinct meanings in the biological sciences. The less commonly found meaning is of any animal which can be seen with the unaided eye, in contrast to microfauna
Microfauna

File:Soybean cyst nematode and egg SEM.jpgMicrofauna refers to small, mostly microscopic animals, such as protozoa, nematodes, small arthropods, etc....
. The more commonly found meaning, discussed in this article, is of "giant", "very large" or "large" animals — although there is no standard definition of a minimum size.

In practice the most common usage encountered in academic and popular writing describes land animals roughly larger than a human which are not (solely) domesticated.






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What mega-fauna existed in the North America prior to 11,000 B.C.








Encyclopedia


The term megafauna (Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
 megas "large" + New Latin
New Latin

The term New Latin or Neo-Latin is used to describe a form the Latin language used after the end of the Medieval Latin period to c. 1900, and in a very limited fashion, down to the present day....
 fauna "animal") has two distinct meanings in the biological sciences. The less commonly found meaning is of any animal which can be seen with the unaided eye, in contrast to microfauna
Microfauna

File:Soybean cyst nematode and egg SEM.jpgMicrofauna refers to small, mostly microscopic animals, such as protozoa, nematodes, small arthropods, etc....
. The more commonly found meaning, discussed in this article, is of "giant", "very large" or "large" animals — although there is no standard definition of a minimum size.

In practice the most common usage encountered in academic and popular writing describes land animals roughly larger than a human which are not (solely) domesticated. The term is especially associated with the Pleistocene megafauna
Pleistocene megafauna

Pleistocene megafauna is the set of species of large animals — mammals, birds and reptiles — that lived on Earth during the Pleistocene epoch and went extinct in a Quaternary extinction event....
 — the giant and very large land animals considered archetypical of the last ice age such as mammoth
Mammoth

A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of the Elephantidae and close relatives of modern elephants....
s. It is also commonly used for the largest wild land animals surviving today, especially elephant
Elephant

Elephants are large land mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant ....
s, giraffe
Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background....
s, hippopotamuses
Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly herbivore African mammal, one of only two Extant taxon species in the scientific classification Hippopotamidae ....
, rhinoceros
Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros , often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae....
es, moose
Moose

File:Alces alces NA.svgThe moose or elk , , is the largest Extant taxon species in the deer family . Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
, condor
Condor

Condor is the name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere....
s, etc.

Other common uses are for giant aquatic species, especially whales, any larger wild or domesticated land animals such as larger antelope
Antelope

Antelope are ruminant hoofed mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of even-toed ungulates. These animals are spread relatively evenly throughout the various subfamily of Bovidae and many are more closely related to cows or goats than to each other....
 and cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, and dinosaurs and other extinct giant reptilians.

Some technical definitions of size however go down to as small as 40-45kg (90 lbs) and thus encompass a great many animals commonly regarded as not especially large, such as goats and (larger) domestic dogs.

The term is also sometimes applied to animals (usually extinct) of great size relative to a more common or surviving type of the animal, for example the 1m (3 ft) dragonflies
Dragonfly

A dragonfly is a type of insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera....
 of the Carboniferous
Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ? 2.5 annum , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ? 0.8 Ma ...
 age.

Ecological Strategy of Megafauna


Megafauna — in the sense of the largest mammals and birds — are generally K-strategist
R/K selection theory

In ecology, r/K selection theory relates to the natural selection of Trait s which promote success in particular environments. The theory originates from work on island biogeography by the ecologists Robert MacArthur and E....
s, with great longevity, slow population growth rates, low death rates, and few or no natural predators capable of killing adults. These characteristics, although not exclusive to such megafauna, make them highly vulnerable to human over-exploitation.

Megafauna Mass Extinctions


The two most well-known mass extinctions of megafauna are the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event in which the dinosaurs and most other giant reptilians were wiped out, and the Pleistocene-Holocene extinction event
Holocene extinction event

The Holocene extinction event is the widespread, ongoing mass extinction of species during the modern Holocene epoch . The large number of extinctions span numerous families of plants and animals including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and arthropods; a sizeable fraction of these extinctions are occurring in the rainforests....
 at the end of the last ice age in which the giant ice age animals such as mammoths were wiped out.

Examples of megafauna


Desert megafauna

  • African Wild Ass
    African Wild Ass

    The African Wild Ass is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey which is usually placed within the same species....
     (Equus africanus)
  • Bactrian Camel
    Bactrian camel

    The Bactrian Camel is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of north eastern Asia. It is one of the two surviving species of camel....
     (Camelus bactrianus)
  • Barbary Lion
    Barbary Lion

    The Barbary Lion, Atlas lion or Nubian lion is a subspecies of lion that has become Extinction in the wild. There are around 40 in captivity in Europe, with fewer than a hundred in zoos around the world....
     (Panthera leo leo)
  • Chacma Baboon
    Chacma Baboon

    The Chacma Baboon , also known as the Cape Baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. With a body length of up to 115 cm and a weight from 15 to 31 kg, it is among the largest and heaviest baboon species....
     (Papio ursinus)
  • Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius)
  • Gemsbok
    Gemsbok

    The gemsbok or gemsbuck is a large African antelope, of the Oryx genus. The name is derived from the Dutch Language name of the male chamois, Gemsbok....
     (Oryx gazella)
  • Onager
    Onager

    The Onager is a large mammal belonging to the genus Equus of the family Equidae and native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel, and Tibet....
     (Equus hemionus)
  • Ostrich
    Ostrich

    The ostrich Struthio camelus is a large flightless bird native to Africa . It is the only living species of its family , Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio....
     (Struthio camelus)
  • Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana)
  • Red Kangaroo
    Red Kangaroo

    The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests....
     (Macropus rufus)
  • Scimitar-horned Oryx (Oryx dammah)
  • Striped Hyena
    Striped Hyena

    The Striped Hyena is an omnivore mammal of the biological family hyaenidae. It lives in Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and western India....
     (Hyaena hyaena)


Freshwater megafauna

  • African Lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus}
  • Alligator gar
    Alligator gar

    The alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula, is a primitive ray-finned fish. Its also referred to as the gator gar. Unlike other gars, the mature alligator gar possesses a dual row of large teeth in the upper jaw....
     (Atractosteus spatula)
  • Alligator Snapping Turtle
    Alligator Snapping Turtle

    The Alligator Snapping Turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. It is a larger and slightly less aggressive relative of the Common Snapping Turtle....
     (Macrochelys temminckii)
  • American Alligator
    American Alligator

    The American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, is one of the two living species of Alligator, a genus within the family Alligatoridae....
     (Alligator mississippiensis)
  • American Crocodile
    American Crocodile

    The American crocodile is a species of crocodilian found primarily in Central America. It is the most widespread of the four Extant taxon species of crocodiles from the Americas....
     (Crocodylus acutus)
  • American paddlefish
    American Paddlefish

    The American paddlefish, Polyodon spathula, also called the Mississippi paddlefish or spoonbill, lives in slow-flowing waters of the Mississippi River drainage system....
     (Polyodon spathula)
  • Atlantic sturgeon
    Atlantic sturgeon

    The Atlantic sturgeon is a member of the Acipenseridae family and is among one of the oldest fish species in the world. Its range extends from New Brunswick, Canada to the eastern coast of Florida....
     (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus)
  • Baiji
    Baiji

    Baiji may refer to:* The Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin * Baiji, Iraq, a city of northern Iraq.* "Baiji" is the pinyin Romanization for Baekje....
     (Liptoes vexilifer) †
  • Black Caiman
    Black Caiman

    The black caiman is a crocodilian. It is a carnivorous reptile that lives along slow-moving rivers and lakes, in the seasonally flooded savannas of the Amazon basin, and in other freshwater habitats in South America....
     (Melanosuchus niger)
  • Black Swan
    Black Swan

    The Black Swan is a large Wildfowl which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia....
     (Cygnus atratus)
  • Blue catfish
    Blue catfish

    The blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is one of the largest species of North American catfish. Blue catfish are distributed primarily in the Mississippi River drainage including the Missouri River, Ohio River, Tennessee River, and Arkansas River rivers....
     (Ictalurus furcatus)
  • Boto
    Boto

    The Amazon River Dolphin, alternately Bufeo, Bufeo Colorado, Boto, Boto Rosa, Boutu, Nay, Tonina, or Pink River Dolphin is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela....
     (Inia geoffrensis)
  • Canada Goose
    Canada Goose

    The Canada Goose is a goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to North America. It is quite often called the Canadian Goose, but that name is not strictly correct, according to the American Ornithologists' Union....
     (Branta canadensis)
  • Chinook Salmon
    Chinook salmon

    The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, , is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family . It is a Pacific Ocean salmon and is variously known as the king salmon, tyee salmon, Columbia River salmon, black salmon, chub salmon, hook bill salmon, winter salmon, Spring Salmon, ...
     (Oncohynchus tshawtscha)
  • Common Crane
    Common Crane

    The Common Crane , also known as the Eurasian Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane .It is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane at 100-130 cm long, with a 180-240 cm wingspan and a weight of 4.5-6 kg ....
     (Grus grus)
  • Flathead catfish
    Flathead catfish

    The flathead catfish, Pylodictis olivaris, also called the yellow cat, opelousas, mud cat and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish....
     (Pylodictis olivaris)
  • Giant Barb
    Giant Barb

    The giant barb or Siamese giant carp, Catlocarpio siamensis , is the largest species of carp in the world. These migratory fish are found only in the Mae Klong, Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins....
     (Catlocarpio siamensis)
  • Gharial
    Gharial

    The gharial , sometimes called the Indian gavial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodile-like reptiles with long, narrow jaws....
     (Gavialis gangeticus)
  • Greater Flamingo
    Greater Flamingo

    The Greater Flamingo is the most widespread species of the flamingo family. It is found in parts of Africa, southern Asia and southern Europe ....
     (Phoenicopterus ruber)
  • Great Blue Heron
    Great Blue Heron

    The Great Blue Heron , Ardea herodias, is a wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common over most of North America and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Gal?pagos Islands, except for the far north and deserts and high mountains where there is no water for it to feed in....
     (Ardea herodias)
  • Green sturgeon
    Green sturgeon

    The Green Sturgeon is a species of sturgeon native to the Pacific Ocean, from China and Russia, over into Canada and the United States....
     (Acipenser medirostris)
  • Hippopotamus
    Hippopotamus

    The hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly herbivore African mammal, one of only two Extant taxon species in the scientific classification Hippopotamidae ....
     (Hippopotamus amphibius)
  • Jabiru
    Jabiru

    The Jabiru is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It is most common in the Pantanal region of Brazil and the Eastern Chaco region of Paraguay....
     (Jabiru mycteria)
  • Japanese Crane (Grus japonensis)
  • Kaluga
    Kaluga (fish)

    The Kaluga is a large predatory sturgeon found in the Amur River basin. Also known as the Great Siberian Sturgeon, they are claimed to be the largest freshwater fish in the world, with a maximum weight of at least 1000 kg....
     (Huso dauricus)
  • Lake sturgeon
    Lake sturgeon

    The lake sturgeon is a North American temperate fresh water fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilage skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates....
     (Acipenser fulvescens)
  • Marabou Stork
    Marabou Stork

    The Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus, is a large wading Aves in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds in Africa south of the Sahara, occurring in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially waste tips....
     (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)
  • Mekong giant catfish
    Mekong giant catfish

    The Mekong giant catfish, Pangasianodon gigas, is a species of catfish in the shark catfish family , native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia....
     (Pangasianodon gigas)
  • Mute Swan
    Mute Swan

    The Mute Swan is a Eurasian member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. Although they tend to be quieter than other kinds of swans, they are not mute, and do vocalize....
     (Cygnus olor)
  • Nile Crocodile
    Nile crocodile

    The Nile crocodile is an African reptile of the Family Crocodylidae....
     (Crocodylus niloticus)
  • Nile perch
    Nile perch

    The Nile perch is a species of freshwaterfish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is widespread throughout muchof the Afrotropic ecozone, being native to the Congo River, Nile River, Senegal River, Niger River, and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins....
     (Lates niloticus)
  • Orinoco Crocodile
    Orinoco Crocodile

    The Orinoco Crocodile, Crocodylus intermedius, is a critically endangered crocodile found in freshwater in northern South America, in particular the Orinoco river....
     (Crocodylus intermedius)
  • Pallid sturgeon
    Pallid sturgeon

    The pallid sturgeon is an endangered species of Actinopterygii, Endemism to the waters of the Missouri River and lower Mississippi River basins of the United States....
     (Scaphirhynchus albus)
  • Pirarucu (Arapaima gigas)
  • Sandhill Crane
    Sandhill Crane

    The Sandhill Crane is a large Crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American midwest....
     (Grus canadensis)
  • Shoebill
    Shoebill

    The Shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, also known as Whalehead, is a very large stork-like bird. It derives its name from its massive shoe-shaped bill....
     (Balaeniceps rex)
  • Trumpeter Swan
    Trumpeter Swan

    The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is the largest living waterfowl species on earth....
     (Cyngus buccinator)
  • Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus')
  • Wels Catfish
    Wels catfish

    The wels catfish is a scaleless freshwater and brackish water water catfish recognizable by its broad, flat head and wide mouth. The mouth contains lines of numerous small teeth, two long Barbel s on the upper jaw and four shorter barbels on the lower jaw....
     (    Silurus glanis)
  • White Stork
    White Stork

    The White Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe , northwest Africa, and southwest Asia ....
     (    Ciconia ciconia)
  • White sturgeon
    White sturgeon

    The white sturgeon , also known as the Pacific sturgeon, Oregon sturgeon, Columbia sturgeon, Sacramento sturgeon, and California white sturgeon, is a sturgeon which lives along the west coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands to Central California....
     (    Acipenser transmontanus)
  • Whooping Crane
    Whooping Crane

    The Whooping Crane , the tallest North American bird, is an endangered Crane species named for its whooping sound and call. Along with the Sandhill Crane, it is one of only two cranes species found in North America....
     (    Grus americanus)


Oceanian megafauna

  • Anderson's Kangaroo † (Simothenurus andersoni)
  • Antilopine Kangaroo
    Antilopine Kangaroo

    The Antilopine Kangaroo , sometimes called the Antilopine Wallaroo or the Antilopine Wallaby, is a species of macropod found in northern Australia: in Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, the Top End of the Northern Territory, and the Kimberley region of Western Australia region of Western Australia....
     (    Marcopus antilopinus)
  • Australian Pelican
    Australian Pelican

    The Australian Pelican is a large water bird, widespread on the inland and coastal waters of Australia and New Guinea, also in Fiji, parts of Indonesia and as a vagrant to New Zealand....
     (    Pelecanus conspicillatus)
  • Blue Whale
    Blue Whale

    The Blue Whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At up to 32.9 metres in length and 172 metric tonnes or more in weight, it is the largest whale and the largest living animal and is believed to be the largest organism ever to have existed....
     (    Balaenoptera musculus)
  • Bryde's Whale
    Bryde's Whale

    Bryde?s Whales are the least-known and in many ways the most unusual of the rorquals. They are small by rorqual standards—no more than about 25 tonnes—prefer tropical and temperate waters to the polar seas that other whales in their family frequent; are largely coastal rather than pelagic, and although they retain the characteris...
     (    Balaenoptera brydei)
  • Bluff Down Crocodile
    Quinkana

    Quinkana is an extinct genus of Mekosuchinae that lived in Australia from ~24 million years ago to ~40,000 years ago. By the Pleistocene Quinkana had become one of the apex predator of Australia, possessing long legs and ziphodont teeth .Ziphodont teeth tend to arise in terrestrial crocodilians because, unlike their...
     † (Quinkana)
  • Bluff Down Euryzygoma
    Euryzygoma

    Euryzygoma is an extinct genus of marsupial....
     † (    Euryzygoma dunese)
  • Bluff Down Giant Python
    Liasis

    Liasis is a genus of non-venomous Pythonidaes found in Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. Currently, 3 species are recognized....
     †
  • Brolga
    Brolga

    The Brolga , formerly known as the "Native Companion", is a bird in the crane family. The bird has also been given the name "Australian Crane", a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithology artist John Gould in his The Birds of Australia....
     (    Grus rubicunda)
  • Browsing Kangaroo
    Simosthenurus

    Simosthenurus is a genus of megafaunal Macropodidae that existed in Australia in the Pleistocene. The members of the genus are large, Simosthenurus occidentalis weighed over 118 kilograms....
     † (    Simosthenurus occidentalis)
  • Bush Moa† (Anomalopteryx didifromis)
  • Carnivorous Kangaroo
    Propleopus

    Propleopus is an extinct genus of marsupial.Reference...
     † (    Propleopus oscillans)
  • Carpet Python
    Carpet python

    Morelia spilota is a large snake of the Pythonidae family found in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. The subspecies are commonly named the Carpet and Diamond pythons....
     (    Morelia spilota)
  • Cassowary
    Southern Cassowary

    The Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, also known as Double-wattled Cassowary, Australian Cassowary or Two-wattled Cassowary, is a large flightless black bird....
     (    Casuarius casuarius)
  • Congruus †
  • Dingo
    Dingo

    |- style = "text-align:center"|style="background: pink;" |Breed standards |- style = "text-align:center"||}The Dingo also known as Warrigal, Maliki, Mirigung, Decker Dog, Boololomo, Repeti, or Australian Native Dog, is a feral dog which mostly lives independently from humans....
     (    Canis dingo)
  • Diprotodon
    Diprotodon

    __FORCETOC__Diprotodon was the largest known Marsupialia that ever lived. It, along with many other members of a group of unusual species collectively called the Australian megafauna, existed from 1.6 million years ago until about 40,000 years ago ....
     †
  • Eastern Grey Kangaroo
    Eastern Grey Kangaroo

    The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Forester Kangaroo....
     (    Marcopus gigantea)
  • Emu
    Emu

    The Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only Extant taxon member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich....
     (    Dromaius novaehollandiae)
  • Eurapteryx†
  • Fin Whale
    Fin Whale

    The Fin Whale , also called the Finback Whale, Razorback, or Common Rorqual, is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales....
     (    Balaenoptera physalus)
  • Genyornis
    Genyornis

    Genyornis was a monotypic genus of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia until 50?5 thousand years ago. Many species became Extinction in Australia around that time, coinciding with the arrival of humans....
     † (    Genyorns newtoni)
  • Giant Maleefowl † (Leipoa gallinacea)
  • Giant Platypus
    Ornithorhynchus maximus

    Ornithorhynchus maximus was a platypus from the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene. Some scientists believe it is an aquatic version of an echidna whereas others still believe that it is a platypus....
     † (    Ornithorhynchus maximus)
  • Giant Koala
    Giant Koala

    The Giant Koala was an arboreal marsupial which existed in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch. Phascolarctos stirtoni was about one third larger than the contemporary Koala, and has had an estimated weight of 29 lbs or 13 kg ....
     † (    Phascolarctos stroni)
  • Giant Tortoise
    Giant tortoise

    Giant tortoises are characteristic reptiles of certain tropical islands. They occur in such places as Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, R?union, the Gal?pagos Islands, Sulawesi, Timor, Flores and Java , often reaching enormous size — they can weigh as much as 300 kg and can grow to be 1.3 m long....
     † (    Meiolania brevicollis)
  • Great Tasmanian Devil
    Sarcophilus

    Sarcophilus is a genus of Dasyuridae best known for its only living member, the Tasmanian Devil.There are three species of Sarcophilus....
     † (    Sarcophilus laniarius)
  • Giant Wallaby
    Protemnodon

    Protemnodon is a genus of megafaunal Macropodidae that existed in Australia and Papua New Guinea in the Pleistocene. Based on fossil evidence it is though that the known Protemnodon were physically similar to wallaby but far larger; Protemnodon hopei was the smallest in the genus weighing about 45 kilograms, the other species all...
     † (    Protemnodon otibandus)
  • Goanna
    Goanna

    Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia....
     (    Varanus giganteus)
  • Gould's Monitor (Varanus gouldi)
  • Humpback Whale
    Humpback Whale

    The humpback whale is a Baleen whale whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms ....
     (    Megaptera novaeangliae )
  • King Island Emu
    King Island Emu

    The King Island Emu or Black Emu is an extinct ratite species which occurred on King Island, Tasmania between mainland Australia and Tasmania....
     † (    Dromaius ater)
  • Megalania prisca †
  • Marsupial Lion
    Marsupial lion

    Thylacoleo is an extinct genus of carnivorous marsupials that lived in Australia from the late Pliocene to the late Pleistocene . Some of these "marsupial lions" were the largest mammalian predators in Australia of that time, with Thylacoleo carnifex approaching the weight of a small lion....
     † (genus     Thylacoleo)
  • Moa
    Moa

    The moa were ten species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ....
     †
  • Minke Whale
    Minke Whale

    Minke Whale or Lesser Rorqual is a name given to two species of marine mammal belonging to a clade within the suborder of baleen whales. The Minke Whale was given its official designation by Lacep?de in 1804, who described a dwarf form of Bal?noptera acuto-rostrata....
     (    Balaeonptera acutorostrata)
  • New Zealand Eagle
    Haast's Eagle

    Haast's Eagle , was a massive, now extinction eagle that once lived on the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest eagle known to have existed....
     † (    Harpagornis moorei)
  • New Zealand Giant Penguin † (Pachydyptes ponderosus)
  • New Zealand white shark
    New Zealand white shark

    Carcharocles angustidens is a species of extinct Mega-tooth shark, and is closely related to Megalodon. This shark lived during the Miocene - Pliocene epochs....
     † (    Carcharodon angustidens)
  • Ninjemys oweni
    Ninjemys oweni

    Ninjemys oweni was a large meiolaniid turtle from Pleistocene Queensland. It resembled its larger relative, Meiolania, save that the largest pair of horns on its head stuck out to the sides, rather than point backwards....
     †
  • Orca
    Orca

    The Killer Whale or Orca , less commonly, Blackfish or Seawolf, is the largest species of the dolphin family. It is found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctica regions to warm, tropical seas....
     (    Orcinus orca)
  • Pachyornis
    Pachyornis

    Pachyornis is an extinct genus of ratites from New Zealand which belonged to the moa family. Like all ratite it was a member of the Struthioniformes Order....
     †
  • Palorchestes
    Palorchestes

    Palorchestes azael is an extinct species of marsupial that appeared during the Miocene, and went extinct about 40,000 years ago....
     †
  • Pearson's Kangaroo † (Macropus pearsoni/ferragus)
  • Procoptodon
    Procoptodon

    Procoptodon was a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch. P. goliah, the largest kangaroo that ever existed, stood approximately 3 metres tall and weighed about ....
     †
  • Red Kangaroo
    Red Kangaroo

    The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests....
     (    Marcopus rufus)
  • Saltwater Crocodile
    Saltwater Crocodile

    Saltwater or estuarine crocodile is the largest of all living crocodilians and reptiles. It is found in suitable habitat throughout Southeast Asia, Northern Australia, and the surrounding waters....
     (    Crocodylus porosus)
  • Sei Whale
    Sei Whale

    The Sei Whale , Balaenoptera borealis, is a baleen whale, the third largest rorqual after the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale. It can be found worldwide in all oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep off-shore waters....
     (    Balaenoptera borealis)
  • Sperm Whale
    Sperm Whale

    The Sperm Whale is the largest of all toothed whales and largest living toothed animal. The whale was named after the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in its head and originally mistaken for sperm or semen....
     (    Physeter catodon)
  • Sthenurus
    Sthenurus

    Sthenurus is an extinct genus of kangaroo. With a height of about 3 m , some species were twice as large as modern extant species. Sthenurus was related to the better-known Procoptodon....
     † (    Sthenurus tindalei)
  • Steppe Kangaroo † (Simothenurus gili)
  • Stirton's Thunder Bird † (Dromornis stirtoni)
  • Tasmanian Devil
    Tasmanian Devil

    The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivore marsupial now found in the wild only in the Australian island states and territories of Australia of Tasmania....
     (    Sarcophilus harrisi)
  • Tasmanian Tiger
    Thylacine

    The Thylacine was the largest known carnivore marsupial of Holocene. Native to continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century....
     † (    Thylacinus cynocephalus)
  • Troposodon †
  • Warrendja †
  • Western Long-beaked Echidna
    Western Long-beaked Echidna

    The Western Long-beaked Echidna is one of the four extant echidnas and one of three species of Zaglossus that occur in New Guinea. Fossils of this species also occur in Australia....
     (    Zaglossus bruijni)
  • Wonambi
    Wonambi

    Wonambi is a genus currently consisting of two species of very large snakes. These species are not Pythonidaes, like Australia's other large constrictors of the genus Morelia, but a member of a now extinct family Madtsoiidae....
     †
  • Zygomaturus
    Zygomaturus

    Zygomaturus is an extinct giant marsupial from Australia during the Pleistocene. It had a heavy body and thick legs and is believed to be similar to the modern Pygmy Hippopotamus in both size and build....
     †


Rainforest megafauna

  • African Forest Elephant
    African Forest Elephant

    The African Forest Elephant was until recently considered a subspecies of the African Bush Elephant ; however, DNA testing has now shown that there possibly are three extant elephant species: the two African types, typically considered to be different populations of a single species, the African Elephant, and the South Asian species known as...
     (    Loxodonta cyclotis)
  • Asian Elephant
    Asian Elephant

    The Asian or Asiatic Elephant , sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies – the Indian Elephant, is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas....
     (    Elephas maximus)
  • Babirusa
    Babirusa

    The North Sulawesi Babirusa, Babyrousa celebensis, is a pig-like animal native to northern Sulawesi and the nearby Lembeh Islands in Indonesia....
     (    Babyrousa babyrussa)
  • Baird's Tapir
    Baird's Tapir

    Baird?s Tapir is one of the three species of tapir found in Latin America....
     (    Tapirus bairdii)
  • Banteng
    Banteng

    The Banteng , also known as Tembadau, is a species of Bovini found in Southeast Asia.Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic Banteng, which are called Bali cattle....
     (    Bos javancius)
  • Bengal Tiger
    Bengal Tiger

    The Bengal tiger, or Royal bengal tiger , is a subspecies of tiger primarily found in India and Bangladesh. They are also found in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar and southern Tibet....
     (    Panthera tigris)
  • Bongo
    Bongo (antelope)

    The Western or Lowland Bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....
     (    Tragelapus eurycerus)
  • Bornean Orangutan
    Bornean Orangutan

    The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Together with the slightly smaller Sumatran Orangutan, it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia....
     (    Pongo pygmaeus)
  • Brazilian Tapir
    Brazilian Tapir

    The South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and the Baird's Tapir....
     (    Tapirus terrestris)
  • Eastern Gorilla
    Eastern Gorilla

    The Eastern Gorilla is a species of the genus Gorilla and the largest living primate. At present, the species is subdivided into two subspecies....
     (    Gorilla beringei)
  • Chimpanzee
    Chimpanzee

    Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially known as a chimp, is the common name for the two Extant taxon species of ape in the genus Pan where the Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
     (    Pan troglodytes)
  • Gaur
    Gaur

    The gaur is a large, dark-coated bovine animal of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The biggest populations are found today in India. The gaur is the largest species of wild cattle, bigger than the African Buffalo, Wild Asian Water Buffalo and bison....
     (    Bos gaurus)
  • Giant Anteater
    Giant Anteater

    .The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is found in Central America and South America. It is the only species in the Myrmecophaga genus....
     (    Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
  • Giant Forest Hog
    Giant forest hog

    The Giant Forest Hog is the largest wild member of the pig family Suidae. It is the only member of the genus Hylochoerus. Males can reach as much as 2 metres in length and 1.1 metres high at the shoulder and have been known to weigh as much as 600 pounds ; but such claims are often exaggeration and must be scrutinized....
     (    Hylochoerus meinetzhageni)
  • Great Hornbill
    Great Hornbill

    The Great Hornbill, Buceros bicornis also known as Greater Indian Hornbill or Two-horned Calao, is the largest member of the hornbill family....
     (    Buceros bicornis)
  • Hyacinth Macaw
    Hyacinth Macaw

    Native to central and eastern South America, the Hyacinth Macaw , or Hyacinthine Macaw, is the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species in the world, though the flightless Kakapo of New Zealand can outweigh it at up to 3.5kg....
     (    Anodorhynchus hyacintinus)
  • Jaguar
    Jaguar

    The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a New World Felidae and one of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus, along with the tiger, lion, and leopard of the Old World....
     (    Panthera onca augusta)
  • Javan Rhinoceros
    Javan Rhinoceros

    The Javan Rhinoceros or Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same genus as the Indian Rhinoceros, and has similar mosaicked skin which resembles armor, but at 3.1?3.2 m in length and 1.4?1.7 m in height, it is smaller than the Indian Rh...
     (    Rhinoceros sondaicus)
  • Lowland Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis)
  • Malayan Tapir
    Malayan Tapir

    The Malayan Tapir , also called the Asian Tapir, is the largest of the four species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The scientific name refers to the East Indies, the species' natural habitat....
     (    Tapirus indicus)
  • Mountain Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi)
  • Okapi
    Okapi

    The Okapi is a giraffid artiodactyl mammal native to the Ituri Rainforest, located in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in central Africa....
     (    Okapia johnstoni)
  • Pygmy Hippopotamus
    Pygmy Hippopotamus

    The pygmy hippopotamus is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa . The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal. It is one of only two extant species in the Hippopotamidae family , the other being its much larger cousin the common hippopotamus....
     (    Hexaprotodon liberiensis)
  • Sambar (Cervus unicolor)
  • Southern Cassowary
    Southern Cassowary

    The Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, also known as Double-wattled Cassowary, Australian Cassowary or Two-wattled Cassowary, is a large flightless black bird....
     (    Casuarius casuarius)
  • Sumatran Orangutan
    Sumatran Orangutan

    The Sumatran Orangutan is the rarer of the two species of orangutans. Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are smaller than the Bornean Orangutan....
     (    Pongo abelii)
  • Sumatran Rhinoceros
    Sumatran Rhinoceros

    The Sumatran Rhinoceros is a member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It is the smallest rhinoceros, standing about 120?145 centimetres high at the shoulder, with a body length of and weight of 500?800 kilograms ....
     (    Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
  • Waterbuck
    Waterbuck

    The Waterbuck is an antelope found in West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa.Waterbuck stand 100 to 130 centimetres at the shoulder and weigh from 160 to 240 kilograms....
     (    Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
  • Western Gorilla
    Western Gorilla

    The Western Gorilla is a great ape and the most populous species of the genus Gorilla....
     (    Gorilla gorilla)
  • White-lipped Peccary
    White-lipped Peccary

    The White-lipped Peccary, Tayassu pecari, is a peccary species found in Central America and South America, living in rainforest, dry forest and chaco scrub....
     (    Tayassu pecari)


Woodland megafauna

  • American Black Bear
    American black bear

    The American Black Bear is the most common bear species native to North America. It lives throughout much of the continent, from northern Alaska south into Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean....
     (    Ursus americanus)
  • Brown Bear
    Brown Bear

    The Brown Bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It weighs 100 to 700 kg and its larger populations such as the Kodiak bear match the Polar bear as the largest extant land predator....
     (    Ursus arctos)
  • Elk
    Elk

    Elk may refer to:* Various species of deer:** European Elk , also known as Moose** North American Elk , also known as Wapiti** Indian Elk , also known as sambar ...
     (    Cervus canadensis)
  • Emu
    Emu

    The Emu , Dromaius novaehollandiae, is the largest bird native to Australia and the only Extant taxon member of the genus Dromaius. It is also the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich....
     (    Dromaius novaehollandiae)
  • European Bison (Bison bonansus)
  • Fallow Deer
    Fallow Deer

    The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae.The male is a buck, the female is a doe, and the young a fawn. Bucks are 140-160 cm long and 90-100 cm shoulder height, and 60-85 kg in weight; does are 130-150 cm long and 75-85 cm shoulder height, and 30-50 kg in weight....
     (    Dama dama)
  • Giant Panda
    Giant Panda

    The Giant Panda is a mammal classified in the bear family , native to central-western and southwestern China. The Giant Panda was previously thought to be a member of the Procyonidae family....
     (    Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
  • Great Horned Owl
    Great Horned Owl

    The Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, is a large Typical owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas....
     (    Bubo virginianus)
  • Gray Wolf
    Gray Wolf

    The grey wolf or gray wolf , also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago....
     (    Canis lupus)
  • Moose
    Moose

    File:Alces alces NA.svgThe moose or elk , , is the largest Extant taxon species in the deer family . Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a "twig-like" configuration....
     (    Alces alces)
  • Mountain Lion (Puma concolor)
  • Mule Deer
    Mule Deer

    The mule deer is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Adult male mule deer are called bucks, adult females are called does, and young of both sexes are called fawns....
     (    Odocoileus hemionus)
  • Nilgai
    Nilgai

    The Nilgai is an antelope which is one of the most commonly seen wild animals of northern India and eastern Pakistan. The mature males appear ox-like and are also known as Blue bulls....
     (    Boselaphus tragocamelus)
  • Raccoon
    Raccoon

    Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most widespread species, the Raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are considerably lesser-known....
     (    Procyon lotor)
  • Red Fox
    Red Fox

    The Red Fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora. In the British Isles, where there are no longer any other native wild canids, it is referred to simply as "the fox"....
     (    Vulpes vulpes)
  • Red Kangaroo
    Red Kangaroo

    The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests....
     (    Macropus rufus)
  • Sika Deer
    Sika Deer

    The Sika Deer is a member of the deer family Cervidae that inhabits much of East Asia. It is found in mixed deciduous forests to the north, and mixed subtropical deciduous and evergreen forests to the south....
     (    Cervus nippon)
  • White-lipped Deer
    Thorold's Deer

    Thorold's deer has the scientific classification Cervus albirostris. It is also known as the white-lipped deer , for the white patches around its muzzle....
     (    Cervus albirostris)
  • Western Gray Kangaroo (Macropus fulginosus)
  • White-tailed Deer
    White-tailed Deer

    File:Wtdfishwild.jpgThe white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to all but five states in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and northern portions of South America as far south as Peru....
     (    Odocoileus virginianus)
  • Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)


Mountain megafauna

  • Andean Condor
    Andean Condor

    The Andean Condor is a species of South American bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and is the only member of the genus Vultur....
     (    Vultur gryphus)
  • Argali
    Argali

    The argali, or the mountain sheep is the globally endangered wild ovis, which roams the highlands of Central Asia . It is also the biggest wild sheep, standing as high as 120 cm and weighing as much as 140 kg....
     (    Ovis ammon)
  • Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus)
  • Barbary Sheep
    Barbary Sheep

    The Barbary Sheep...
     (    Ammotragus lervia)
  • Bharal
    Bharal

    The bharal or Himalayan blue sheep, Pseudois nayaur, is a Goat antelope found in the high Himalayas of Nepal, Tibet, China, Kashmir, Pakistan, Bhutan and the Republic of India....
     (    Pseudois nayaur)
  • Bighorn Sheep
    Bighorn Sheep

    Bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America and Siberia with large horns which can weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae....
     (    Ovis canadensis)
  • California Condor
    California Condor

    The California Condor is a North American species of bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae and the largest North American land bird....
     (    Gymnogyps californianus)
  • Dall Sheep
    Dall Sheep

    The Dall Sheep , Ovis dalli, is a species of Ovis native to northwestern North America, ranging from white to slate brown in color and having curved yellowish brown horns....
     (    Ovis dalli)
  • Eurasian Lynx
    Eurasian Lynx

    The Eurasian lynx is a medium-sized Felidae native to European and Siberian forests, where it is one of the predators. The Eurasian lynx is the biggest of the lynxes, ranging in length from 80 to 130 cm and standing about 70 cm at the shoulder....
     (    Lynx lynx)
  • Giant Panda
    Giant Panda

    The Giant Panda is a mammal classified in the bear family , native to central-western and southwestern China. The Giant Panda was previously thought to be a member of the Procyonidae family....
     (    Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
  • Golden Eagle
    Golden Eagle

    The Golden Eagle is one of the best known bird of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas....
     (    Aquila chrysaetos)
  • Gray Wolf
    Gray Wolf

    The grey wolf or gray wolf , also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago....
     (    Canis lupus)
  • Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)
  • Himalayan Tahr
    Himalayan Tahr

    The Himalayan Tahr is a large ungulate related to the wild goat. Its native habitat is in the rugged wooded hills and mountain slopes of the Himalaya from northern India to Tibet....
     (    Hemitragus jemlahicus)
  • Ibex
    Ibex

    An ibex is an individual of any of several species of wild mountain Capra , distinguished by the male's large recurved Horn_%28anatomy%29, which are transversely ridged in front....
     (    Capra ibex)
  • Lammergeier
    Lammergeier

    File:Lammergeier with boy, Kabul, 1973.JPGThe Lammergeier or Bearded Vulture, Gypaetus barbatus , is an Old World vulture, the only member of the genus Gypaetus....
     (    Gypaetus barbatus)
  • Mouflon
    Mouflon

    The mouflon , sometimes known as the Cyprus mouflon, is a subspecies group of the wild ovis Ovis orientalis. Populations of Ovis orientalis can be partitioned into the mouflons or milligans and urials or arkars ....
     (    Ovis orientalis)
  • Mountain Goat
    Mountain goat

    The Mountain Goat , also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is a large-hoofed mammal found only in North America. Despite its name, it is not a true goat, as it belongs to a different genus....
     (    Oreamnos americanus)
  • Mountain Gorilla
    Mountain Gorilla

    The Mountain Gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. There are two groups. One is found in the Virunga Mountains of Central Africa, within 4 national parks: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes National Park, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Bi?ga National Park, in t...
     (    Gorilla beringei beringei)
  • Mountain Lion (Puma concolor)
  • Mountain Tapir
    Mountain Tapir

    The Mountain Tapir is the smallest of the four species of tapir and is the only one to live outside of tropical rainforests in the wild.The Mountain Tapir is referred to as Sacha Huagra by Quechua speakers, danta cordillerana and danta lanuda by Spanish-speakers in Colombia, danta negra by Spanish-speaking Ecuadorians, a...
     (    Tapirus pinchaque)
  • Mule Deer
    Mule Deer

    The mule deer is a deer whose habitat is in the western half of North America. It gets its name from its large mule-like ears. Adult male mule deer are called bucks, adult females are called does, and young of both sexes are called fawns....
     (    Odocoileus hemionus)
  • Reindeer
    Reindeer

    The reindeer , also known as the caribou when wild in North America, is an Arctic and Subarctic-dwelling deer, widespread and numerous across the northern Holarctic....
     (    Rangifer tarandus)
  • Snow Leopard
    Snow Leopard

    The snow leopard , sometimes known as "ounce," is a moderately large Felidae native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. The classification of this species has been subject to change and its exact taxonomy position is still unclear....
     (    Uncia uncia)
  • Tiger
    Tiger

    The tiger is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an Carnivore#Obligate carnivores....
     (    Panthera tigris)
  • Vicuna
    Vicuρa

    The vicu?a or vicugna is one of two wild South American camelids, along with the guanaco, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes....
     (    Vicugna vicugna)
  • Wolverine
    Wolverine

    The wolverine is the largest land-dwelling species of the Mustelidae or weasel family in the genus Gulo . It is also called the Glutton or Carcajou....
     (    Gulo gulo)
  • Yak
    Yak

    The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia....
      (    Bos grunniens)


Grassland megafauna

  • African Bush Elephant
    African Bush Elephant

    The African Bush Elephant is the larger of the two species of African elephant. Both it and the African Forest Elephant have usually been classified as a single species, known simply as the African Elephant....
     (    Loxodonta africanus)
  • African Lion
    African lion

    African lion With their majestic manes, tall bodies and battle scares the male African lion is an imposing animal. The African lion is the second largest feline behind the tiger....
     (    Panthera leo)
  • American Badger
    American Badger

    The American Badger, Taxidea taxus, is a North American Badger, somewhat similar in appearance to the European Badger.It is found in the western and central United States, northern Mexico and central Canada....
     (    Taxidea taxus)
  • American Bison
    American Bison

    The American Bison is a bovinae mammal, also commonly known as the American buffalo. "Buffalo" is somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the Wild Asian Water Buffalo and the African buffalo....
     (    Bison bison)
  • American Lion
    American lion

    The American lion also known as the North American lion, American cave lion, is an extinct Felidae known from fossils. It was one of the largest subspecies of lion ever to have existed, comparable in size to the Early Middle Pleistocene primitive cave lion, Panthera leo fossilis, and about twenty-five percent larger than...
     † (     Panthera leo atrox)
  • Black Rhinoceros
    Black Rhinoceros

    The Black Rhinoceros , also colloquially Black Rhino, is a species of rhinoceros, native to the eastern and central areas of Africa including Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe....
     (    Diceros bicornis)
  • Black Wildebeest
    Black Wildebeest

    The Black Wildebeest or White-tailed gnu is one of two gnu species. The natural populations of this species, endemic to the southern region of Africa, have been almost completely exterminated, but the species has been reintroduced widely, both in private areas and nature reserves throughout most of Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Nami...
     (    Connochaetes gnou)
  • Blue Wildebeest
    Blue Wildebeest

    The Blue Wildebeest is a large ungulate mammal of the Bovid family and one of two species of wildebeest. It grows to 1.7 meters shoulder height and attains a body mass of up to 380 kilograms....
     (    Connochaetes taurinus)
  • Brown Bear
    Brown Bear

    The Brown Bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It weighs 100 to 700 kg and its larger populations such as the Kodiak bear match the Polar bear as the largest extant land predator....
     (    Ursus arctos)
  • Columbian Mammoth
    Columbian Mammoth

    The 'Columbian Mammoth' is an extinct species of elephant that appeared in North America during the late Pleistocene, It is believed by some people to be the same species as its slightly larger cousin, M....
     † (    Mammuthus columbi)
  • Common Zebra (Equus quagga burchelli)
  • Dire Wolf
    Dire Wolf

    The Dire Wolf is an extinction Carnivora mammal of the genus Canis, and was most common in North America and South America during the Pleistocene....
     † (    Canis dirus)
  • Giraffe
    Giraffe

    The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background....
     (    Giraffa camelopardus)
  • Gray Wolf
    Gray Wolf

    The grey wolf or gray wolf , also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is the largest wild member of the Canidae family. It is an ice age survivor originating during the Late Pleistocene around 300,000 years ago....
     (    Canis lupus)
  • Leopard
    Leopard

    The leopard is a member of the Felidae biological family and the smallest of the four "Panthera" in the genus Panthera; the other three are the tiger, lion and jaguar....
     (    Panthera pardus)
  • Ostrich
    Ostrich

    The ostrich Struthio camelus is a large flightless bird native to Africa . It is the only living species of its family , Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio....
     (    Struthio camelus)
  • Red Kangaroo
    Red Kangaroo

    The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests....
     (    Macropus rufus)
  • Giant Short Faced Bear † (Arctodus Simus)
  • Spotted Hyena
    Spotted Hyena

    The Spotted Hyena, or Laughing Hyena, is a Carnivora mammal of the family hyaenidae. It is the largest of the hyenas, and is native to sub-Saharan Africa, save for the Congo basin....
     (    Crocuta crocuta)
  • Thomson's Gazelle
    Thomson's Gazelle

    The Thomson's gazelle is one of the best-known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson , and is often referred to as the "tommy"....
     (    Gazella thomsoni)
  • White Rhinoceros
    White Rhinoceros

    The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist and is one of the few megafauna species left....
     (    Ceratotherium simum)
  • Wild Horse
    Wild Horse

    The wild horse is a species of the genus Equus , which includes both the domesticated horse subspecies as well as the undomesticated Tarpan and the Przewalski's Horse....
     (    Equus ferus)
  • Wooly Mammoth † (Mammuthus primigenius)


See also

  • Bergmann's Rule
    Bergmann's Rule

    In zoology, Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographic rule that correlates latitude with body mass in animals. Broadly it asserts that within a species the body mass increases with latitude and colder climate, or that within closely related species that differ only in relation to size that one would expect the larger species to be found at the hig...
  • Cope's rule
    Cope's rule

    Edward Drinker Cope's rule states that population lineages tend to increase in body size over evolutionary time. While the rule has been demonstrated in many instances, it does not hold true at all taxonomic levels, or in all clades....
  • Deep-sea gigantism
    Deep-sea gigantism

    In zoology, deep-sea gigantism, also known as abyssal gigantism, is the tendency for species of crustaceans, invertebrates and other deep-sea-dwelling animals to display a largest organism than their shallow-water counterparts....
  • Fauna
    Fauna

    File:Fauna.pngFauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoology and paleontology use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g....
  • Island dwarfism
  • Island gigantism
    Island gigantism

    Island gigantism is a biological phenomenon where the size of animals isolated on an island increases dramatically over generations. It is a form of natural selection in which bigger size provides a survival advantage ....
  • Largest organisms
    Largest organisms

    The largest organism found on earth can be measured using a variety of methods. It could be defined as the largest by volume, mass, height, or length....
  • List of megafauna discovered in modern times
  • List of African megafauna
    List of African megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna of Africa are listed here....
  • List of Arctic megafauna
    List of Arctic megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna in Arctic Arctic climate are listed here....
  • List of Australian megafauna
    List of Australian megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna of Australia are listed here....
  • List of Central and South American megafauna
    List of Central and South American megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna of Central America and South America are listed here....
  • List of Eurasian megafauna
    List of Eurasian megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna of Europe and Asia are listed here....
  • List of island megafauna
    List of island megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna existing only on islands are listed here....
  • List of marine megafauna
    List of marine megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . Extant and recently extinct megafauna living in the oceans are listed here....
  • List of North American megafauna
    List of North American megafauna

    Megafauna are large animals . This list includes extant and recently extinction native North American species with a body mass of 40 kg or greater, the minimal mass to be considered megafaunal....
  • New World Pleistocene extinctions
  • Quaternary extinction event
    Quaternary extinction event

    The Quaternary epoch saw the extinctions of numerous predominantly larger species, many of which occurred during the transition to the Holocene epoch in what is termed the Holocene extinction event....