# If you could be any \*\*extinct\*\* organism, what would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Tags:** question, fun, silliness\ **Created:** [December 17, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872 "2020-12-17T20:02:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![haemocyanin11](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/haemocyanin11/32/12951_2.png) [@haemocyanin11](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/haemocyanin11)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/1 "2020-12-17T20:02:38Z")
After reading [Extinct animals](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/extinct-animals/18857/11), I thought it would be interesting to add this topic to the forum. Although, I am unsure if I should simply add this to my previous topic of [If you could be any organism besides a human, what would it be?](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-organism-besides-a-human-what-would-it-be/16964) Anyway, if I had to choose to be an extinct organism, I would be any member of the genus _Anomalocaris_. Why? > But to get back to the original question, my favorite extinct organism would be _Anomalocaris_. I mean, when was the last time a giant shrimp was the apex predator of the ocean? > > ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/f/fe3e5f3b0a0444f182356d450d721e3b91c50900.jpeg) > A depiction of _Anomalocaris canadensis_. Original image “Anomalocaris2019.jpg” by PaleoEquii from _Wikimedia Commons_, 2019, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anomalocaris2019.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anomalocaris2019.jpg). Accessed 17 December 2020. \*As an aside, I had no idea that images could be included in Blockquotes. ---
**Author:** ![hoboannie](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/hoboannie/32/2445_2.png) [@hoboannie](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/hoboannie)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/2 "2020-12-17T20:36:39Z")
Thylacine! ![thylacinus_cynocephalus_gould-mr_bzqs5zg](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/0/027f35a5f24c9b0015328d840c5a45a63c62e264.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![comores3](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/comores3/32/1919_2.png) [@comores3](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/comores3)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/3 "2020-12-17T20:50:00Z")
I’d have to say Hell Ants. They just look so weird and cool, almost like what an ant would say an alien would look like. ![600px-Perrichot,_V.,_Wang,_B._et_al._2020._New_remarkable_hell_ants,_Fig._8](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/5/52c11caf26c1da902e3cb870ffc8338943599297.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/4 "2020-12-17T21:00:46Z")
Extinction Rebellion thinks we are already fast forward to that. ---
**Author:** ![DriftlessRoots](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/driftlessroots/32/16059_2.png) [@DriftlessRoots](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DriftlessRoots)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/5 "2020-12-17T21:02:11Z")
[_Otodus megalodon_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalodon) 🦈 ---
**Author:** ![jonhakim](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jonhakim/32/1010_2.png) [@jonhakim](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jonhakim)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/6 "2020-12-17T21:09:17Z")
One of those shape-shifting reptilian humanoids that used to rule humanity in ancient times. ---
**Author:** ![natashataylor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/natashataylor/32/13747_2.png) [@natashataylor](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/natashataylor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/7 "2020-12-17T23:01:32Z")
_Koolasuchus_ maybe? My favourite extinct amphibian, and its lifestyle looks pretty chill. My favourite extinct mammal is _Diprotodon_, so that would be fine too: not many natural predators when you’re the size of a tank, so long as nobody brings the giant lizards back. Favourite extinct reptile is _Minmi_/_Kunbarrasaurus_ (they were considered the same when I chose them), but I don’t think that would be as nice to be as the other two. ---
**Author:** ![safron](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/safron/32/13972_2.png) [@safron](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/safron)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 12:03am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/8 "2020-12-18T00:03:10Z")
I think it’d be awesome to be a pterosaur, if I had to choose any in particular, it would be [Caiuajara dobruskii](http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-caiuajara-dobruskii-new-pterosaur-species-brazil-02101.html). Land based extinct animal would have to be either [Dilophosaurus](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/comprehensive-anatomical-and-phylogenetic-evaluation-of-dilophosaurus-wetherilli-dinosauria-theropoda-with-descriptions-of-new-specimens-from-the-kayenta-formation-of-northern-arizona/39C2921EDC6E951AC9F94A22158CA4E5) or the Thylacine. Water based creatures, I’d probably go with some species of mosasaur or early whale. Trilobites would also be top tier for me. In terms of plants, I would absolutely love to be a [lepidodendron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidodendron) ---
**Author:** ![earthknight](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/earthknight/32/32879_2.png) [@earthknight](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/earthknight)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/9 "2020-12-18T01:36:42Z")
Honestly, _Homo erectus_ would be pretty interesting. All sorts of large megafauna still around, entering new areas where bipedal primates were unknown to the local wildlife, and being able to discuss it with your compatriots. One of the issues faced by being any animal is that you’re prey unless you’re above a certain size (then it’s mainly your young that are prey). This makes a lot of otherwise interesting choices somewhat unpalatable. If it’s got to be a non-human one of the enormous [beardogs (_Amphicyonids_)](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/e9/ba/6ce9ba54d795869335f2f99c01a14f55.jpg) from the Miocene would be ok. Being a long-lived tree wouldn’t be bad either, but choosing which type would be difficult. Maybe one of the early oaks or magnolias. ---
**Author:** ![jasonhernandez74](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jasonhernandez74/32/33615_2.png) [@jasonhernandez74](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jasonhernandez74)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 4:47am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/10 "2020-12-18T04:47:46Z")
> [@earthknight](#): > > One of the issues faced by being any animal is that you’re prey unless you’re above a certain size (then it’s mainly your young that are prey). Thinking of the Taung child – now known to have been killed by an African crowned eagle. Early humans, too, were prey as well as predators. The cave bear would have been a formidable foe if all you had were stone age weapons; so would a saber-tooth cat, a pride of cave lions or a pack of dire wolves. That said, if I was going to be a non _Homo sapiens_, it sure would be nice to have the cerebral capacity to understand that I was having experiences. So I will say it is between _Nsungwepithecus_ (currently the earliest known monkey), _Rukwapithecus_ (the earliest known ape), or the last common ancestor of both. [That would put it in the Oligocene.](https://www.livescience.com/32029-oldest-monkey-fossil-found.html) ---
**Author:** ![kevinfaccenda](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kevinfaccenda/32/10265_2.png) [@kevinfaccenda](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kevinfaccenda)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 6:08am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/11 "2020-12-18T06:08:33Z")
I’d be an Ivory billed woodpecker and then go around eating at bird feeders until somebody notices. It’d be great fun to mess with all the scientists who think I’m extinct. ---
**Author:** ![dlevitis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dlevitis/32/78796_2.png) [@dlevitis](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/dlevitis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/12 "2020-12-18T06:16:24Z")
I think we need clearer parameters here. Am I going to be that extinct animal in its environment and time, with its cognitive abilities and memories? Am I going to retain my own cognition and memories, and be in its time, or mine? Am I going to be it forever, or just until it stops being fun? ---
**Author:** ![teellbee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/teellbee/32/15498_2.png) [@teellbee](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/teellbee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/13 "2020-12-18T14:49:11Z")
> [@jasonhernandez74](#): > > f I was going to be a non _Homo sapiens_, it sure would be nice to have the cerebral capacity to understand that I was having experiences. Hmm, how about Neanderthals, then? They were very accomplished and thoughtful and ~very~ strong! (I am reading “Kindred - Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art” by Rebecca Wragg Sykes.) ---
**Author:** ![teellbee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/teellbee/32/15498_2.png) [@teellbee](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/teellbee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/14 "2020-12-18T14:53:37Z")
> [@earthknight](#): > > Being a long-lived tree wouldn’t be bad either, but choosing which type would be difficult. Maybe one of the early oaks or magnolias. … perhaps a Cypress or Redwood overlooking the ocean? ---
**Author:** ![teellbee](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/teellbee/32/15498_2.png) [@teellbee](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/teellbee)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/15 "2020-12-18T14:54:22Z")
> [@kevinfaccenda](#): > > I’d be an Ivory billed woodpecker and then go around eating at bird feeders until somebody notices. It’d be great fun to mess with all the scientists who think I’m extinct. That’s hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![tallastro](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tallastro/32/1145_2.png) [@tallastro](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tallastro)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/16 "2020-12-18T14:55:53Z")
Probably this _T. rex_. [https://duelingdinosaurs.org/](https://duelingdinosaurs.org/) All extinct animals are dead so I’d like to, at least, be well known. ---
**Author:** ![diegoalmendras](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/diegoalmendras/32/1473_2.png) [@diegoalmendras](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/diegoalmendras)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/17 "2020-12-18T19:33:52Z")
LUCA to kill myself and stop everything 😅 ---
**Author:** ![mertensia](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/mertensia/32/7505_2.png) [@mertensia](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/mertensia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/18 "2020-12-18T19:49:23Z")
Dickinsonia, so I could leave a beautiful fossil. ---
**Author:** ![swampass](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/swampass/32/11470_2.png) [@swampass](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/swampass)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/19 "2020-12-18T20:05:24Z")
I’d have to agree, I’d be a neanderthal. Most people in the world have a bit of Neanderthal DNA so we really don’t even have to pretend. ---
**Author:** ![hogback2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/hogback2/32/10181_2.png) [@hogback2](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/hogback2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872/20 "2020-12-18T22:04:36Z")
I always wanted to fly by my own means, so why not be the largest flying creature of all time, the Quetzalcoatlus, one of the last surviving pterosaurs of the Cretaceous? [Next page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/if-you-could-be-any-extinct-organism-what-would-it-be/18872.md?page=2)