The Recently Three Extinct Animals

DODO

The Dodo was a cool bird that lived on the island of Mauritius way back in the day. It couldn't fly, but that was okay because there weren't many animals around to eat it anyway, and there were plenty of yummy things like seeds, roots, and fruit to keep it full.

We don't exactly know what the Dodo looked like since nobody drew a super accurate picture of it, but we think it was about three feet tall and weighed as much as a small suitcase.

The first people to meet the Dodo were sailors from Holland in 1598. Unfortunately, these sailors and the animals they brought with them, like dogs and cats, weren't very nice to the Dodo.

They hunted the Dodos for food, and some other animals that people brought to the island ate the Dodo's eggs and babies.

This was all too much for the Dodo, and they eventually disappeared completely. The last time someone for sure saw a Dodo was in 1662, which is kind of sad. 

WOOLLY MAMMOTH

Imagine a giant, furry elephant! That was the Woolly Mammoth, a massive mammal that roamed Asia and North America millions of years ago.

Close cousins to today's elephants, these mammoths were enormous, standing over 13 feet tall and tipping the scales at over 12,000 pounds! Their thick fur kept them warm in the icy regions they called home.

Woolly mammoths had impressive tusks, some reaching up to 16 feet long! They likely used these for digging, fighting, and maybe even stripping bark from trees for food.

Sadly, these amazing creatures disappeared around 10,000 years ago. There are two main reasons why. First, humans hunted them. Second, the Earth's climate changed, making their icy homes less suitable.

The last woolly mammoths hung on for a while on Wrangel Island in the Arctic, but even they vanished by 1700 BC.

Even though they're gone, scientists can still learn about them by studying their bones and tusks that have been preserved in the permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of ground.

BRAMBLE CAY MELOMYS

Bramble Cay Melomys, a cute little rodent, is no more. This sad event became official in 2015, although scientists hadn't seen any since 2009. These Melomys lived only on a tiny island called Bramble Cay.

Scientists hoped to capture some melomys in 2011 and 2014 to start a backup population in zoos, but they were already gone. Even samples they collected earlier seem to be lost.

This is a big deal because it's the first known mammal extinction caused by climate change that humans caused. The rising sea levels swallowed up the Melomy's homes on the island, and strong storms might have even drowned some of them.

The Australian government of Queensland state blames the loss of the melomys' plant food and hiding spots on rising sea levels. This is a wake-up call about how climate change can harm even the smallest creatures.