Best Pleistocene

Lyuba, a female woolly mammoth calf discovered in Siberia in 2007 and dated to approximately 42,000 years ago, is one of the most complete and best-preserved mammoths ever found, with intact organs and stomach contents.

Neanderthal 1 is a partial hominin skeleton discovered in 1856 in the Feldhofer Cave in Germany's Neander Valley. The remains include a distinctive skullcap and portions of the postcranial skeleton, and they became the name-bearing specimen for Homo neanderthalensis. Their recognition helped establi...

LB1 is the principal fossil specimen of Homo floresiensis, a small-bodied hominin discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The partial skeleton includes a skull and indicates an adult individual about one meter tall, leading to the informal nickname Hobbit. Associated...

Turkana Boy, catalogued as KNM-WT 15000, is a remarkably complete early Homo skeleton discovered in 1984 near Lake Turkana in Kenya by Kamoya Kimeu. Usually assigned to Homo ergaster or African Homo erectus, the juvenile individual lived about 1.6 million years ago and had long legs and human-like b...

Barringer Meteor Crater is a well-preserved impact crater located in Winslow, Arizona. Formed by a meteorite approximately 50,000 years ago, it represents one of the best examples of a preserved impact site on Earth. The crater’s size and clarity make it valuable for geological study and provides an...

Sthenurus is an extinct genus of large, short-faced kangaroo belonging to the family Sthenuridae, which lived throughout Pleistocene-era Australia. These marsupials were heavily built, with estimates suggesting they weighed well over 100 kilograms. They are distinguished from modern macropods by the...

Smilodon fatalis, a saber-toothed cat of the Pleistocene, is known from thousands of specimens recovered at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and possessed upper canines reaching roughly 18 cm in length.

Small-brained hominin from South Africa's Rising Star Cave system, first described in 2015; its mosaic of primitive and modern skeletal traits and evidence of possible deliberate body disposal are distinctive.

Mammuthus primigenius, the woolly mammoth, ranged across Eurasia and North America through the Pleistocene and survived in isolated Wrangel Island populations until roughly 4,000 years ago, making it one of the last surviving proboscidean megafauna.

Diamond Head (Lēahi) is a prominent tuff cone located on Oahu, Hawaii. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch approximately 300,000 years ago, it represents a significant example of volcanic landform development. The site’s unique geological history and dramatic landscape make it a notable destination...

Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as Sunrise Peak, is a tuff cone located on Jeju Island, South Korea. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch, it represents a unique geological feature—a ring-shaped volcanic deposit created by explosive eruptions of pyroclastic material. Designated a UNESCO World Heritag...

Megatherium americanum, a ground sloth from the Pleistocene of South America, was one of the largest land mammals ever, with estimates of up to 4 tonnes body mass and the ability to stand over 6 meters upright on its hind limbs.

Pinnacle Rock is a Pleistocene-formed tuff cone found on Bartolomé Island, part of Ecuador’s Galapagos Marine Park. The rock’s dramatic, sheer cliffs provide exceptional vantage points for observing marine life and the surrounding landscape. It's a significant geological feature studied by volcanolo...

The Beringian Steppe, also called the mammoth steppe, was a cold, productive grassland ecosystem that existed during the Pleistocene epoch across Alaska, eastern Siberia, and the exposed Bering land bridge connecting Asia and North America. It supported large grazing mammals such as mammoths, bison,...

Pingualuit is a small impact crater located in eastern Canada. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch, it represents one of the youngest confirmed impact craters on Earth. Its notable preservation offers scientists valuable insights into early impact events and planetary formation processes. Geologists...

Aenocyon dirus, the dire wolf, is known from thousands of Pleistocene specimens including large numbers from the La Brea Tar Pits; a 2021 genomic study showed it belonged to a lineage distinct from all living canids.

Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei), the largest eagle known to science, was endemic to New Zealand and hunted giant moa before going extinct around 1400 CE following Polynesian arrival and rapid prey depletion.

Zygomaturus is an extinct genus of diprotodontid marsupial from the Pleistocene of Australia, closely related to the larger Diprotodon. It was a heavily built herbivore distinguished by a broad skull and prominent cheekbones (zygomatic arches). Fossils have been recovered primarily from sites in sou...

Dinornis robustus, the South Island giant moa of New Zealand, stood up to 3.6 meters tall and was driven to extinction by Māori hunters within roughly two centuries of Polynesian settlement around 1280 CE.

Glyptodon clavipes, an armadillo relative from the Pleistocene of South America, bore a rigid bony carapace up to 1.5 meters long and dispersed into North America during the Great American Biotic Interchange some 3 million years ago.

The Caldeira das Sete Cidades is a large tuff-cone crater located on São Miguel Island in the Azores archipelago. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch through volcanic activity, it features a maar-caldera structure containing two distinct lakes—one blue and one green—resulting from varying mineral co...

Homo longi is a proposed species of archaic human based on CAGS-HV-PA-01, a nearly complete skull reportedly discovered near Harbin in northeastern China. Researchers formally described the specimen in 2021 and reported that it was at least 146,000 years old. Nicknamed Dragon Man, the skull combines...

Gigantopithecus blacki was an extinct great ape known mainly from large teeth and lower jaws found in southern China and parts of mainland Southeast Asia. It lived during the Pleistocene and was substantially larger than living apes, although estimates of its body mass remain uncertain because no co...

Hanauma Bay is a volcanic tuff cone located along Oahu’s southeast coastline. Formed during the Honolulu Volcanic Series, its breached tuff ring creates a unique marine environment. Designated as a nature preserve in 1967, it provides sheltered waters for snorkeling and observation of diverse marine...

Smilodon populator, the largest saber-toothed cat, inhabited Pleistocene South America and had an estimated body mass of up to 400 kg, making it one of the heaviest feliform carnivorans in the fossil record.

Mammut americanum, the American mastodon, inhabited forests across North America until approximately 10,000 years ago and is distinguished from mammoths by its lower-crowned, cusped teeth adapted for browsing woody vegetation.

Homo luzonensis is an extinct hominin species described in 2019 from teeth and fragmentary hand, foot, and thigh bones found in Callao Cave on Luzon in the Philippines. Specimen CCH6 is part of this fossil assemblage, some of which is approximately 67,000 years old. The remains combine traits not se...

Molokini is a tuff cone islet located off the coast of Maui, Hawaii. Formed during the Pleistocene epoch from volcanic ash ejected by an underwater eruption, it now constitutes a marine reserve. The island’s unique geological structure and surrounding waters support diverse marine life, making it a...

Susan C. Antón is an American paleoanthropologist noted for research on Homo erectus, especially its anatomical variation and dispersal beyond Africa.