Follow fossils through time. Listen closely. Learn to ask better questions.
Two sourced stories about loss, isolation, and the limits of what evidence can tell us.
Usually cited last reliable sighting: 1662. The exact extinction date remains uncertain. Its island world changed after people arrived; a last record cannot identify the moment the final bird died.
Explore the full storyNatural History Museum · The real facts about the dodoAI-created reconstruction; extinct appearance is interpretive.
Last known population: Wrangel Island, disappearing about 4,000 years ago. Small isolated populations face pressures, but the final cause of this extinction remains unresolved.
Explore the full storySwedish Museum of Natural History · Wrangel Island mammoth researchAI-created reconstruction; extinct appearance is interpretive.