Where have Google’s 3D animals gone? Most have been removed

Over the past few years, Google has built a ton of 3D models of animals and other objects that you can view in augmented reality, but recently Google removed the vast majority of these fun models from Search.

In 2019, Google introduced the ability to view 3D animals directly in Search. Via the web, Android or iOS you can view these 3D models and even use augmented reality (AR) on mobile devices to see those models in the real world, often at life size. The collection of objects expanded over the years and at its peak offered more than 100 different animals, many dinosaurs, and educational models of planets, locations, human anatomy, parts of the cell, and more. You can even preview a car using 3D models.

Google itself has never been good at cataloging these models, with a support page currently offering support for a handful of animals, cellular structures, and more. It’s a far cry from the list we’ve covered in recent years.

But suddenly, many of Google’s 3D models simply disappeared.

It appears that 3D animals and objects in Google Search have been drastically reduced to a list that is even shorter than what Google’s own official support page claims to be available. There are barely a dozen animals available and less than ten dogs and cats left. Other than that, there are only a handful of insects and objects.

In our testing, the list below represents 3D animals and objects that are still available in 2024.

Google 3D animals that still work in 2024

Many of the various educational models of cells, body systems and more are also still available, although body parts have been completely removed from Google’s collection of 3D models. However, many now appear as “interactive charts” in Search, rather than being referred to as 3D models.

These include:

• Anatomical systems: Human digestive system, respiratory system, endocrine system, female reproductive system, nervous system, lymphatic system, male reproductive system, integumentary system, excretory system, peripheral nervous system, urinary system, skeletal system, muscular system and circulatory system
• Cellular structures: Mitochondrion, prokaryote, endoplasmic reticulum, bacterium, eukaryote, plant cell, rough endoplasmic reticulum, nucleolus, flagellum, cell membrane, animal cell, Golgi apparatus, ribosomes, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, chromatin, nuclear membrane, fimbria, bacterial capsule, plasmids, central vacuole, cristae, plasma membrane, cell wall and cisternae
• Chemistry: Functional group, Organic chemistry, Methyl acetate, Propanol, Salicylic acid, 1-Bromobutane, Hydrocarbon, Alkane, Electrolyte, Ionic bond, Covalent bond, Chemical bond, Metallic bond, Chemical compound, Ethene, Orbital hybridization and Quantum mechanical model
• Biology: Monocotyledon, dicotyledon, eukaryotic chromosome structure, red blood cell, monocyte, neutrophil, basophil and eosinophil
• Physics: Solenoid

Google hasn’t explained why so many of its 3D models have been removed, but it’s easy to speculate that the ever-changing landscape around Search is likely to blame. Still, it’s a shame to see that so much these have been removed, given their usefulness in education, and also for the simple fact that they were fun to play with. They also played a big role in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the easily accessible models went viral during lockdowns.

Have you used Google’s 3D animals? Let us know in the comments below.

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