Poop-Eating Snails And 20 Other Extinct Lifeforms You Need To Know About

There are a lot of extinct lifeforms we wish we could bring back. In some cases, it’s because the creature in question is really, really cute. In other cases, it’s because we have zoos and almost complete control over nature now because back in the day, we sure as hell would have been fine with the beast in question disappearing forever.

On this week’s Mental Floss, the brilliant YouTube channel, with the help of Emily Graslie, takes a look at 21 now-extinct lifeforms that we probably have no idea exist. Why? Because in case if you haven’t noticed, human beings do not love all creatures equally. It’s an easy life out there for panda bears who want attention, and it’s a much rougher go for any camel who might want people to sit there and watch him for hours. The same general idea applies to extinct animals too. We’ve all heard of T-Rexs and Dodo Birds, but prehistoric snails that eat their own poop? History books aren’t as amped about writing on those. Luckily, that type of thing is exactly what the Internet is for, and as per usual, Mental Floss has come through in the clutch.

The YouTube channel has guest hosts on a semi-regular basis. Often, these guest hosts make viewers wish John Green was there, but depending on subject matter, it’s sometimes (rarely) actually better when he’s not there. This episode is a great example of that. Graslie is normally the host of The Brain Scoop, which gives her behind the scenes access to the Field Museum in Chicago. As you can tell in the above video, that access comes in quite handy as she offers fossilized examples of what she’s discussing.

The Internet might be great for watching porn and cat videos, but once you get that out of the way, there’s a lifetime’s worth of information out there about practically everything. You should check it out.