“De-extinction” does not mean recreating an extinct species exactly. The realistic goal is usually a proxy: a living animal engineered, cloned, or selectively bred to resemble an extinct animal or restore some of its ecological functions. No project has restored an extinct species as a healthy, self-sustaining population.
Here are 14 candidates and what researchers have actually achieved—or still need to do—to bring back an animal resembling each one.
What makes an extinct animal a candidate?
Projects are more feasible when researchers have recently preserved cells or useful ancient DNA, a close living relative, and a suitable surrogate. Reproductive technology matters just as much as genetics: cloning a mammal, editing bird germ cells, and developing a marsupial embryo pose different challenges.
The animals below range from a quagga-like zebra produced through selective breeding to ambitious proposals involving mammoths, dodos, and marine mammals. In every case, a look-alike or proxy is different from restoring the original species.
#1 Best Overall
1. Pyrenean ibex
The Pyrenean ibex, or bucardo (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), is the clearest demonstration that an extinct animal can be cloned—although the result was tragically short-lived.
Researchers preserved cells from the last known individual, which died in 2000. In 2003, they used those cells to produce a live clone with a domestic goat as the surrogate. The kid died minutes after birth because of lung defects. No population was established.
The attempt was possible because viable cells survived, the extinction was recent, and domestic goats could support the pregnancy. It also exposed cloning’s central limitation: one animal is not a genetically diverse population. The bucardo experiment was a reproductive breakthrough, not a completed resurrection.
2. Quagga
The quagga (Equus quagga quagga) was a zebra subspecies with strong stripes on the front of its body and plainer coloring toward the rear. The Quagga Project in South Africa has used selective breeding since 1987 to produce zebras with progressively reduced striping.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →This is sometimes described as bringing back the quagga, but the animals are not genetically identical to the extinct subspecies. They are plains zebras selected for inherited traits that resemble the quagga’s appearance.
Living plains zebras retain some relevant genetic variation, making a quagga-like herd comparatively plausible. What is being recreated is a phenotype and possibly some associated traits—not the original quagga genome or its lost population.
3. Aurochs
The aurochs (Bos primigenius) was the wild ancestor of domestic cattle. The last known aurochs died in Poland in 1627, but modern cattle still carry much of its ancestral genetic legacy.
Breeding-back efforts, including the Tauros Programme, combine hardy cattle breeds to recover characteristics associated with aurochs: large bodies, particular horn shapes, wild-type coloration, and grazing behavior. Heck cattle and Tauros cattle can look strikingly aurochs-like.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
They are not revived aurochs. Selective breeding can bring together surviving traits, but it cannot restore every lost allele or reproduce the genetic structure of the original wild population. These animals may nevertheless have value as large grazers in conservation landscapes.
4. Passenger pigeon
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) once formed enormous flocks in North America. Museum skins and other specimens provide useful genetic material, and the living band-tailed pigeon can serve as a project starting point.
Rank #2
Revive & Restore is developing a plan to place passenger-pigeon genetic variants into band-tailed pigeon cells. The organization has discussed producing the first passenger-pigeon-like birds during the 2030s; that is a project goal, not a completed result.
The challenge is not merely producing a bird with the right markings. Passenger pigeons differed from band-tailed pigeons at many genetic locations, and their famous flocking behavior depended on social learning and enormous population sizes. A handful of edited birds would not recreate the forests and seasonal migrations that shaped the species.
5. Heath hen
The heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido) was an extinct subspecies of greater prairie chicken. The last bird died on Martha’s Vineyard in 1932.
Revive & Restore’s proposed method involves culturing primordial germ cells from greater prairie chickens, editing genetic differences associated with heath-hen traits, and using domestic chickens as reproductive surrogates. Primordial germ cells eventually become eggs or sperm, so changes to them could pass to offspring.
Researchers would first need to identify which genetic differences influenced the heath hen’s behavior, fertility, disease resistance, and adaptation to its island environment. The project has not produced a living heath hen.
6. Gastric-brooding frogs
Two Australian species—the southern gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus) and northern gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus vitellinus)—had an extraordinary reproductive system. Females swallowed developing young and incubated them in their stomachs before giving birth through the mouth.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsIn the Lazarus Project, researchers took nuclei from preserved cells of extinct frogs and inserted them into eggs from a living frog species. The reconstructed embryos divided and reached early developmental stages, but no tadpole or adult frog resulted.
These frogs are attractive candidates because they disappeared only in the late twentieth century and preserved cellular material exists. Their unusual biology is also a major obstacle: even a viable embryo would need a way to reproduce the stomach-brooding system.
7. Thylacine
The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), was a striped marsupial predator. The last known individual died in captivity in 1936.
The University of Melbourne’s TIGRR Lab and Colossal Biosciences are using preserved thylacine material, a chromosome-scale genome, and the fat-tailed dunnart as the closest practical living model. The proposed process involves editing dunnart cells, producing thylacine-like stem cells, creating an embryo, and developing it with marsupial reproductive technology.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallIn October 2024, the University of Melbourne reported that researchers had edited more than 300 genetic markers into dunnart cells and had advanced artificial-uterus work. That is laboratory progress—not a living thylacine.
No living thylacine cells exist, marsupial cloning is less developed than mammalian cloning in common laboratory species, and any resulting animal would be an engineered thylacine proxy.
8. Dodo
The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) disappeared from Mauritius in the seventeenth century. Colossal is using the Nicobar pigeon, the dodo’s closest living relative, as its biological starting point.
The company is comparing dodo and pigeon genomes and developing cultures of primordial germ cells—the cells that become eggs and sperm. Colossal has reported progress culturing pigeon primordial germ cells, but this is not the same as producing a dodo embryo or bird.
Bird reproduction creates additional technical problems. A bird egg cannot simply be cloned in the same relatively direct way as a mammalian cell. The dodo may also have differed from living pigeons at millions of genetic positions, while Mauritius itself has changed substantially since the bird vanished.
9. Woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) is one of the best-known de-extinction targets. Colossal’s plan is to edit Asian elephant cells to introduce selected mammoth traits, including dense hair, cold tolerance, fat storage, and smaller ears.
The company has estimated that roughly 85 elephant genes may need editing. As of 2026, Colossal says gene editing is largely complete and ovum-retrieval and in-vitro fertilization work are underway. It has targeted a first mammoth-like calf for late 2028, but that is a company goal rather than an independently verified milestone.
The biological and ethical hurdles are substantial:
Recommended Free Tools
- Elephant pregnancy lasts about 22 months.
- Asian elephants are endangered and cannot be treated as disposable surrogates.
- An edited embryo must develop normally, not merely contain the desired DNA changes.
- A mammoth-like elephant would not automatically inherit mammoth behavior, social traditions, or genetic diversity.
If the approach succeeds, the likely result would be a cold-adapted elephant proxy—not a genetically complete mammoth.
10. Dire wolf
In April 2025, Colossal announced three wolf pups produced by editing gray-wolf cells at 20 sites across 14 genes associated with selected dire-wolf traits. The company calls them resurrected dire wolves.
That description is disputed. Dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) were a distinct lineage that diverged from living wolves millions of years ago. Independent researchers describe the announced animals as genetically modified gray wolves with some dire-wolf-like characteristics, not complete recreations of the extinct species. Editing 14 genes cannot reproduce their entire genome.
The careful conclusion is that Colossal announced dire-wolf proxy pups; a genetically faithful dire wolf has not been restored.
11. Moa
Moa were a group of large, flightless New Zealand birds, not one single species. Colossal’s current work focuses on the South Island giant moa and uses ancient moa DNA alongside living tinamous and emus. Tinamous are identified as the closest living relatives, while emus may offer a practical surrogate model.
Moa bones are abundant, and the birds disappeared only around 500 years ago, so useful genetic information survives. The technical gap is enormous: millions of genetic differences separated moa from living relatives, bird germ-cell technology remains experimental, and producing a giant flightless bird from a much smaller living bird would require extensive developmental engineering.
12. Bluebuck
The bluebuck (Hippotragus leucophaeus) was a South African antelope last recorded alive in 1799. Colossal added it to its de-extinction portfolio after reporting a bluebuck paleogenome from a 2024 academic study.
The project is comparing additional museum specimens with genomes from living roan and sable antelopes. Those species could provide useful biological reference points and potentially a reproductive platform.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The bluebuck diverged from roan and sable antelopes hundreds of thousands of years ago. A future animal would require extensive genome editing, a suitable surrogate, and validation that its traits belong to the extinct species rather than merely producing a similar-looking antelope.
13. Steller’s sea cow
Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was a huge marine herbivore hunted to extinction in the eighteenth century. Researchers have recovered and analyzed nuclear DNA from preserved remains. The dugong is its closest living relative.
A proposed route would use dugong or manatee reproductive technology, followed by genome editing or stem-cell embryogenesis. The central practical problem is scale: a dugong or manatee surrogate might not be able to carry an embryo that would grow into a much larger Steller’s sea cow.
This is an interesting genomic candidate, but it is much less feasible than recently extinct terrestrial mammals or birds. No living Steller’s sea cow has been produced.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Best Value
14. Great auk
The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a flightless North Atlantic seabird. The last confirmed birds died in 1844 after hunting for meat, feathers, eggs, and specimens.
The razorbill is its closest living relative and could theoretically provide cells or a reproductive platform. Genetic and demographic studies have reconstructed substantial information about the extinct bird.
There is no widely established great-auk de-extinction program. Editing avian primordial germ cells remains difficult, and a recreated bird would need safe North Atlantic breeding colonies. Without strict protection, it could face the same human pressures that caused its extinction.
How close are these animals to being recreated?
| Approach | Examples | What it can realistically produce |
|---|---|---|
| Selective breeding | Quagga, aurochs | A population with a similar appearance and selected traits |
| Cloning | Pyrenean ibex | A genetic copy, if viable preserved cells exist; not necessarily a viable population |
| Genome editing | Passenger pigeon, heath hen, thylacine, dodo, mammoth, dire wolf | An engineered proxy based on a living relative |
| Ancient-DNA research and proposed reproductive methods | Moa, bluebuck, Steller’s sea cow, great auk | A research blueprint; reproduction may remain far away |
For an animal lover, the important distinction is between appearance and species identity. A striped zebra can resemble a quagga without being one. An edited gray wolf can have dire-wolf-like traits without becoming a complete dire wolf. A mammoth-like elephant would still need a safe social group, suitable habitat, and a long-term welfare plan.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Why bringing one animal back is not enough
Species recovery requires more than a successful birth. A viable conservation population needs genetic diversity, compatible social behavior, disease resistance, food, habitat, and protection from the pressures that caused the original extinction.
Those requirements are especially important for intelligent, social animals. A single engineered mammoth could not learn mammoth behavior from its parents if no mammoths existed. A few passenger-pigeon proxies would not spontaneously recreate the huge flocks that once shaped North American forests. A dodo proxy would need an ecosystem capable of supporting it.
De-extinction is best understood as a form of ecological restoration and biotechnology—not as a literal time machine.
FAQ
Has any extinct species been successfully resurrected?
No extinct species has been restored as a healthy, self-sustaining population. A cloned Pyrenean ibex was born in 2003 but died minutes later from lung defects. Other projects have produced embryos, selectively bred look-alikes, or genetically engineered proxies.
Are Colossal’s dire wolves real dire wolves?
Colossal announced three pups in 2025 after editing gray-wolf cells at 20 sites across 14 genes. Independent researchers describe them as genetically modified gray wolves with some dire-wolf-like traits, not complete recreations of the extinct species.
Could a woolly mammoth be brought back?
A mammoth-like elephant may be possible if researchers can safely edit Asian elephant cells, create viable embryos, and complete a roughly 22-month pregnancy. The result would be a proxy with selected mammoth traits, not a genetically complete mammoth. Colossal’s late-2028 target is a company goal, not an independently verified milestone.
What is the most realistic extinct animal to bring back?
A quagga-like zebra or aurochs-like cattle are among the most practical candidates because selective breeding can recover traits present in living relatives. A cloned Pyrenean ibex was also technically feasible, but one clone could not create a healthy, genetically diverse population.
The Bottom Line
The animals most likely to “come back” will not be perfect copies. Quagga-like zebras and aurochs-like cattle can be created through breeding, while projects involving thylacines, dodos, mammoths, passenger pigeons, and other animals aim to engineer proxies from living relatives.
No extinct species has been restored as a self-sustaining population. Habitat, animal welfare, genetic diversity, and the risk of repeating the original extinction pressures matter just as much as the scientific challenge.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
