This Paleoartist Recreates Prehistoric Fauna: 12 Ancient Creatures For The 2025 Calendar

Translates to ‘Indian pig’, but it has nothing to do with pigs. It's actually a future whale.

Looks like a rhinoceros, yet it is actually the closest relative of hornless elephants, sirenians, and hyraxes.

Despite its appearance and the well-known ‘lion’ name simba - is not related to lions. This hyaenodont is also unrelated to either cats or dogs. It was possibly the largest known predator among mammals, though, sadly, it left no descendants.

Looks like a camel, but according to recent findings, it belongs to a unique group of South American ungulates, with its closest modern relative being the horse.

Looked like a giant boar (earning it the nickname ‘hell pig’), although it has no relation to pigs. Its closest living relatives today are whales and hippos.

Looked like a small, stocky horse, but it was not related to horses. It was a member of the oreodonts, whose closest relatives are camels.

Despite the presence of the word ‘hyena’ in the name of this extinct animal, it had nothing to do with hyenas. This is a huge relative of marsupials, resembling the Tasmanian devil both in appearance and possibly in behavior.

Also called the ‘marsupial saber-toothed tiger’, although it has nothing to do with cats. Rather, it can be called an overgrown saber-toothed possum.

Looked like an elephant but is not related to elephants. Its modern relatives are horses, rhinos, and tapirs. It belongs to an unusual South American group called Meridiungulate.

Was a hoofed predator, which sounds unusual in itself. It looked like a dog, yet its closest relatives were deer and other even-toed ungulates.

Also known as Alca impennis or the Great Auk, looked very much like a penguin, and its Latin name reflects that resemblance. However, it was not actually a penguin but the closest relative of modern, flight-capable auks. Moreover, it lived in the Northern Hemisphere, while all known penguins have remained in the Southern Hemisphere.

Looked like an otter but was unrelated not only to modern otters but to other existing animals as well. These creatures appeared long before the rise of modern caniforms (Caniformia), the group that includes otters. Unfortunately, they left no descendants. Buxolestes represented nature's first attempt at creating semi-aquatic predators, but modern otters eventually evolved from newer, more advanced animals.