Category Archives: Extinction

On the dhole

It’s funny when you think about it. Canids famously have a swimming style named after them but they hardly ever made it to any islands. Compared to elephants, hippos, and tortoises and the ease with which they seem to have … Continue reading

Posted in dhole, Extinction, Giant Maltese Dormice, Hippopotamus, Mouse Goat | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lost Animals

[This book review was written when the book was first published] I’ve been a big fan of Errol Fuller’s thoughtful prose for about 13 years. When I was finishing my undergraduate degree I had my imagination fired by reading some … Continue reading

Posted in Extinction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Discovering the mammoth: A tale of giants, unicorns, ivory, and the birth of a new science

Mammoth. With one word, we can all conjure up a mental picture of a woolly elephant, tusks curving out and in, possibly in a herd, in a habitat cold and snowy with biting wind and unforgiving snow. Isn’t it weird? … Continue reading

Posted in Cave art, Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Extinction, Mastodon, Palaeoloxodon, Scientific Art, Stegodon, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An elephant shakes a tree

Mammoths get all the attention. Like an annoying younger sibling, they hog a limelight that should be more equally shared. Occasionally, the mastodon gets a whisp of publicity, which is notable mostly for its rarity. The vast family of proboscideans … Continue reading

Posted in Columbian Mammoth, Deinotherium, Extinction, Hippopotamus, Mastodon, Palaeoloxodon, Stegodon, Steppe Mammoth, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

No Bullwinkle

On Twilight Beasts you will hopefully have seen some of the amazing mummified animals of the Pleistocene. Some of these mummies may even be like old familiar friends to you: the woolly mammoths Lyuba, Buttercup, Khroma, Dima, Yuka, and Mascha, … Continue reading

Posted in Extinction, Irish Elk, moose, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Giant Sloths & Sabertooth Cats

Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats: Extinct Mammals and the Archaeology of the Ice Age Great Basin By Donald K Grayson   If there is one thing I enjoy doing in my downtime, it’s reading about Pleistocene megafauna. As well as … Continue reading

Posted in American Lion, Antilocapra americana peninsularis, Bison, Brown Bear, Camelops, Cave Lion, Cheetah, Clovis hunters, Columbian Mammoth, Extinction, Giant Beaver, Giant Ground Sloth, Glyptodon, Gompothere, Ground Sloth, Horse, Mastodon, Peccary, Pronghorn, Sabre tooth Cat, Short Faced Bear, Teratorns, Woolly Mammoth | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

In Patagonia

Patagonia. The name conjures up exotic windswept plains, adventure, and danger. A by-word for a region as foreign as Timbuktu. This remote section of Argentina and Chile holds many mysteries. In the south, Tierra Del Fuego, the legendary land of … Continue reading

Posted in Extinction, Ground Sloth, Horse, Macrauchenia, Sabre tooth Cat, Short Faced Bear | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Did humans wipe out the megafauna?

The wonderful thing about writing for Twilight Beasts is the chance to bring back some truly incredible creatures. Here we are allowed to be taken back to a time when the largest land lizard ever walked the Earth: Megalania. We … Continue reading

Posted in Extinction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments