List of recently extinct mammals

Recently extinct mammals are any mammal that went extinct since the year 1500 C. E., as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).^[1] Extinction of taxa is difficult to detect as long gaps without a sighting is not definitive, but before 1995 a threshold of 50 years without a sighting was used to declare extinction. One study found that extinction from habitat loss is the hardest to detect, as this might only fragment populations to the point of concealment from humans. Some mammals declared as extinct may very well reappear.^[1] For example, a study found that 36% of purported mammalian extinction had been resolved, while the rest either had validity issues (insufficient evidence) or had been rediscovered.^[2] As of December 2015, the IUCN lists 30 mammalian species as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)".^[3]

Habitat degradation is currently the main anthropogenic cause of species extinctions. The main cause of habitat degradation worldwide is agriculture, with urban sprawl, logging, mining and some fishing practices close behind. Also, increasing toxicity, through mediums such as pesticide, can kill off a species very rapidly, by killing all living members through contamination or sterilizing them. Persistent organic pollutant (POPs), for example, can bioaccumulate to hazardous levels, getting increasingly more dangerous further up the food chain.^[4] The physical destruction of a habitat, both directly (deforestation for land development or lumber) and indirectly (burning fossil fuels which worsens global warming), is another example of this.^[5][6] Disease can also be a big factor; white nose syndrome in bats, for example, is causing a substantial decline in their populations and may even lead to the extinction of a species.^[7]

Overhunting is another big factor to the extinction of mammals in recent times. Terrestrial mammals, such as the tiger and deer, are mainly hunted for their pelts and in some cases meat, and marine mammals can be hunted for their oil and leather. Specific targeting of one species can be problematic to the ecosystem because the sudden demise of one species can inadvertently lead to the demise of another (coextinction) especially if the targeted species is a keystone species. Sea otters, for example, were hunted in the maritime fur trade, and their drop in population led to the rise in sea urchins—their main food source—which decreased the population of kelp—the sea urchin's and Steller's sea cow's main food source—which was a major factor in the extinction of the Steller's sea cow.^[8] The hunting of already limited species can easily extinct it, as with the bluebuck whose range was confined to 1,700 square miles (4,400 km²) and was hunted into extinction soon after discovery by European settlers.^[9]

Island creatures are usually endemic to only that island, and that limited range and small population can leave them vulnerable to sudden changes.^[10] Australia and its unique fauna have suffered an extreme decline in mammal species, 10% of its 273 terrestrial mammals, since European settlement (a loss of one to two species per decade); in contrast, only one species in North America has become extinct since European settlement. Furthermore, 21% of Australia's mammals are threatened, and unlike in most other continents, the main cause is predation by feral species, such as cats.^[11]

Conventions

All species listed as "Extinct" are classified as being extinct (no known remaining individuals left) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). All species listed as Extinct in the wild are classified as being extinct in the wild, meaning that the all of the remaining individuals of the species reside in captivity. All species listed as "Possibly extinct" are classified as being critically endangered, as it is unknown whether or not these species are extinct.^[12] Extinct subspecies such as the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)^[13] are not listed here as the species, in this case Panthera tigris, is still extant. The IUCN Redlist classification for each species serves as a citation, and the superscripted "IUCN" by the date is a link to that species' page. A range map is provided wherever available, and a description of their former or current range is given if a range map is not available.

Extinct species

A species is declared extinct after exhaustive surveys of all potential habitats eliminate all reasonable doubt that the last individual of a species, whether in the wild or in captivity, has died.^[14] Recently extinct species are defined by the IUCN as going extinct after 1500 C. E.^[1]

Common name	Binomial name	Order	Date of extinction	Former range	Picture
Broad-faced potoroo	Potorous platyops Gould, 1844	Marsupialia	1875 IUCN	Australia
Eastern hare wallaby	Lagorchestes leporides Gould, 1841	Marsupialia	1890 IUCN	Australia
Lake Mackay hare-wallaby	Lagorchestes asomatus Finlayson, 1943	Marsupialia	1932 IUCN	Australia
Desert rat-kangaroo	Caloprymnus campestris Gould, 1843	Marsupialia	1935 IUCN	Australia
Tasmanian tiger, or Tasmanian wolf	Thylacinus cynocephalus Harris, 1808	Marsupialia	1936 IUCN	Australia, Tasmania
Toolache wallaby	Macropus greyi Waterhouse, 1846	Marsupialia	1943 IUCN	Australia
Desert bandicoot	Perameles eremiana Spencer, 1837	Marsupialia	1943 IUCN	Australia
Lesser bilby, or yallara	Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887	Marsupialia	1931 IUCN	Australia
Pig-footed bandicoot	Chaeropus ecaudatus Ogilby, 1838	Marsupialia	1950s IUCN	Australia
Crescent nailtail wallaby	Onychogalea lunata Gould, 1841	Marsupialia	1956 IUCN	Australia (western and central)
Red-bellied gracile opossum, or Red-bellied gracile mouse opossum	Cryptonanus ignitus Díaz, Flores and Barquez, 2002	Marsupialia	1962 IUCN	Argentina
Nullarbor dwarf bettong	Bettongia pusilla McNamara, 1997	Marsupialia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Australia, Nullarbor Plain
Steller's sea cow	Hydrodamalis gigas von Zimmermann, 1780	Sirenia	1768 IUCN	Commander Islands
Oriente cave rat	Boromys offella Miller, 1916	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Cuba
Torre's cave rat	Boromys torrei Allen, 1917	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Cuba
Imposter hutia	Hexolobodon phenax Miller, 1929	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Hispaniola
Montane hutia	Isolobodon montanus Miller, 1922	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Hispaniola
	Lagostomus crassus Thomas, 1910	Rodentia	1900 early 1900s IUCN	Peru
Galápagos giant rat	Megaoryzomys curioi Niethammer, 1964	Rodentia	Unknown IUCN	Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos
Cuban coney	Geocapromys columbianus Chapman, 1892	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Cuba
Hispaniolan edible rat	Brotomys voratus Miller, 1916	Rodentia	1536–1546 IUCN	Hispaniola
Puerto Rican hutia	Isolobodon portoricensis Allen, 1916	Rodentia	1900 early 1900s IUCN	Hispaniola and introduced to Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas Island, Saint Croix Island and Mona Island
Big-eared hopping mouse	Notomys macrotis Thomas, 1921	Rodentia	1843 IUCN	Australia (central Western Australia)
Darling Downs hopping mouse	Notomys mordax Thomas, 1921	Rodentia	1846 IUCN	Australia (Darling Downs, Queensland)
White-footed rabbit-rat	Conilurus albipes Lichtenstein, 1829	Rodentia	1860 early 1860s IUCN	Australia, eastern coast
Capricorn rabbit rat	Conilurus capricornensis Cramb and Hocknull, 2010	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Australia, Queensland
St Lucy giant rice rat, or Santa Lucian pilorie	Megalomys luciae Major, 1901	Rodentia	1881 IUCN	Saint Lucia
Short-tailed hopping mouse	Notomys amplus Brazenor, 1936	Rodentia	1896 IUCN	Australia, Great Sandy Desert
Nelson's rice rat	Oryzomys nelsoni Merriam, 1889	Rodentia	1897 IUCN	Islas Marías
Long-tailed hopping mouse	Notomys longicaudatus Gould, 1844	Rodentia	1901 IUCN	Australia
Great hopping mouse	Notomys robustus Mahoney, Smith and Medlin, 2008	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Australia, Flinders and Davenport Ranges
Desmarest's pilorie, or Antillean giant rice rat	Megalomys desmarestii Fischer, 1829	Rodentia	1902 IUCN	Martinique
Bulldog rat	Rattus nativitatis Thomas, 1888	Rodentia	1903 IUCN	Christmas Island
Maclear's rat	Rattus macleari Thomas, 1887	Rodentia	1903 IUCN	Christmas Island
Darwin's Galapagos mouse	Nesoryzomys darwini Osgood, 1929	Rodentia	1930 IUCN	Galapagos Islands
Gould's mouse	Pseudomys gouldii Waterhouse, 1839	Rodentia	1930 IUCN	Australia, southern half
Long-eared mouse	Pseudomys auritus Thomas, 1910	Rodentia	1800 early 1800s IUCN	Australia, Kangaroo Island and the Younghusband Peninsula
Pemberton's deer mouse	Peromyscus pembertoni Burt, 1932	Rodentia	1931 IUCN	San Pedro Nolasco Island
Samana hutia	Plagiodontia ipnaeum Johnson, 1948	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s [lower-alpha 1] IUCN	Hispaniola
Lesser stick-nest rat, or white-tipped stick-nest rat	Leporillus apicalis John Gould, 1854	Rodentia	1933 IUCN	Australia, west-central
Indefatigable Galapagos mouse	Nesoryzomys indefessus Thomas, 1899	Rodentia	1934 IUCN	Galapagos Islands
Little Swan Island hutia	Geocapromys thoracatus True, 1888	Rodentia	1955 IUCN	Swan Islands
Blue-gray mouse	Pseudomys glaucus Thomas, 1910	Rodentia	1956 IUCN	Australia, Queensland and New South Wales
Buhler's coryphomys, or Buhler's rat	Coryphomys buehleri Schaub, 1937	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Timor
Machu Picchu arboreal chinchilla rat	Cuscomys oblativa Eaton, 1916	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s [lower-alpha 2] IUCN	Machu Picchu
Insular cave rat	Heteropsomys insulans Anthony, 1916	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Puerto Rico and the Vieques Island
Candango mouse	Juscelinomys candango Moojen, 1965	Rodentia	1960 IUCN	Central Brazil
Anthony's woodrat	Neotoma anthonyi Allen, 1898	Rodentia	1926 IUCN	Isla Todos Santos
Bunker's woodrat	Neotoma bunkeri Burt, 1932	Rodentia	1931 IUCN	Coronado Islands
San Martín Island woodrat	Neotoma martinensis Goldman, 1905	Rodentia	1950s	San Martín Island, Baja California
Vespucci's rodent	Noronhomys vespuccii Carleton and Olson, 1999	Rodentia	1500 IUCN	Fernando de Noronha
St. Vincent colilargo, or St. Vincent pygmy rice rat	Oligoryzomys victus Thomas, 1898	Rodentia	1892 IUCN	Saint Vincent
Jamaican rice rat	Oryzomys antillarum Thomas, 1898	Rodentia	1877 IUCN	Jamaica
Nevis Rice Rat, or St. Eustatius rice rat, St. Kitts rice rat	Pennatomys nivalis Turvey, Weksler, Morris, and Nokkert, 2010	Rodentia	1500 early 1500s [lower-alpha 3] IUCN
Sardinian pika	Prolagus sardus Wagner, 1832	Lagomorpha	1774 IUCN	Corsica, Sardinia and nearby islands
Marcano's solenodon	Solenodon marcanoi Patterson, 1962	Soricomorpha	1500s IUCN	Dominican Republic
Puerto Rican nesophontes	Nesophontes edithae Anthony, 1916	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Puerto Rico, Vieques Island, St. John, and St. Thomas
Atalaye nesophontes	Nesophontes hypomicrus Miller, 1929	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Hispaniola
Greater Cuban nesophontes	Nesophontes major Arredondo, 1970	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Cuba
Western Cuban nesophontes	Nesophontes micrus Allen, 1917	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud
St. Michel nesophontes	Nesophontes paramicrus Miller, 1929	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Haiti
Haitian nesophontes	Nesophontes zamicrus Miller, 1929	Eulipotyphla	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Haiti
Lesser Mascarene flying fox, or dark flying fox	Pteropus subniger kerr, 1792	Chiroptera	1864 IUCN	Réunion and Mauritius
Guam flying fox, or Guam fruit bat	Pteropus tokudae Tate, 1934	Chiroptera	1968 IUCN	Guam
Dusky flying fox, or Percy Island flying fox	Pteropus brunneus Dobson, 1878	Chiroptera	1870 IUCN	Percy Island
Large Palau flying fox	Pteropus pilosus Andersen, 1908	Chiroptera	1874 IUCN	Palau
Large sloth lemur	Palaeopropithecus ingens Grandidier, 1899	Primate	1620 IUCN	In green
Jamaican monkey	Xenothrix mcgregori Williams and Koopman, 1952	Primate	1700 early 1700s IUCN	Jamaica, Long Mile Cave
Aurochs	Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827	Artiodactyla	1627 IUCN
Bluebuck	Hippotragus leucophaeus Pallas, 1766	Artiodactyla	1800 IUCN
Red gazelle	Eudorcas rufina Thomas, 1894	Artiodactyla	1800 late 1800s IUCN	Algeria
Schomburgk's deer	Rucervus schomburgki Blyth, 1863	Artiodactyla	1932 IUCN	Thailand
Queen of Sheba's gazelle, or Yemen gazelle	Gazella bilkis Grover and Lay, 1985	Artiodactyla	1951 IUCN	Yemen
Saudi gazelle	Gazella saudiya Carruthers and Schwarz, 1935	Artiodactyla	2008 IUCN [lower-alpha 4]	Arabian Peninsula
Madagascan dwarf hippopotamus, or Malagasy hippo	Hippopotamus lemerlei Milne-Edwards, 1868	Artiodactyla	1500 early 1500s [lower-alpha 5] IUCN	Madagascar
Madagascan dwarf hippopotamus, or Madagascan pygmy Hippo, Malagasy hippo	Hippopotamus madagascariensis Guldberg, 1883	Artiodactyla	1500 early 1500s [lower-alpha 6] IUCN	Madagascar
Falkland Island wolf, or warrah	Dusicyon australis Kerr, 1792	Carnivora	1876 IUCN	Falkland Islands
	Dusicyon avus Burmeister, 1866	Carnivora	1500 early 1500s IUCN	Patagonia
Sea mink	Neovison macrodon Prentiss, 1903	Carnivora	1894 IUCN	Northeastern North America
Japanese sea lion	Zalophus japonicus Peters, 1866	Carnivora	1970s IUCN	Japan
Caribbean monk seal	Neomonachus tropicalis Gray, 1850	Carnivora	1952 IUCN	Caribbean Sea
Giant fossa	Cryptoprocta spelea Grandidier, 1902	Carnivora	1500 early 1500s IUCN

Extinct in the wild

A species that is extinct in the wild is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as only known by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due to massive habitat loss. A species is declared extinct in the wild after thorough surveys have inspected its historic range and failed to find evidence of a surviving individual.^[14]

Common name	Binomial name	Order	Date of extinction	Former range	Picture
Père David's deer	Elaphurus davidianus Milne-Edwards, 1866	Artiodactyla	1939 IUCN	China
Scimitar oryx	Oryx dammah Cretzschmar, 1827	Artiodactyla	2000 IUCN	Sahara desert

Possibly extinct

Extinction of taxa is difficult to detect as long gaps without a sighting is not definitive. Some mammals declared as extinct may very well reappear.^[1] For example, a study found that 36% of purported mammalian extinction had been resolved, while the rest either had validity issues (insufficient evidence) or had been rediscovered.^[2] As of December 2015, the IUCN lists 30 mammalian species as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)".^[3]

Common name	Binomial name	Order	Last confirmed sighting	Range	Picture
Kouprey, or gray ox	Bos sauveli Urbain, 1937	Artiodactyla	1988 IUCN
Garrido's hutia	Capromys garridoi Varona, 1970	Rodentia	1970 IUCN	Cayo Santa María
Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat, or Dinagat hairy-tailed cloud rat, Dinagat crateromys, Dinagat Island cloud rat	Crateromys australis Musser, Heaney, and Rabor, 1985	Rodentia	2012[18] IUCN	In pink
Christmas Island shrew	Crocidura trichura Dobson, 1889	Rodentia	1985 IUCN
Wimmer's shrew	Crocidura wimmeri de Balsac and Aellen, 1958	Rodentia	1976 IUCN
De Winton's golden mole	Cryptochloris wintoni Broom, 1907	Rodentia	1937 IUCN
Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo	Dendrolagus mayri Rothschild and Dollman, 1933	Marsupialia	1928 IUCN	Papua New Guinea, Wondiwoi Peninsula
San Quintin kangaroo rat	Dipodomys gravipes Huey, 1925	Rodentia	1986 IUCN	Baja California
Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin, whitefin dolphin, white flag dolphin, Chinese lake dolphin, Changjiang dolphin	Lipotes vexillifer Miller, 1918	Artiodactyla	2002 [lower-alpha 7] IUCN
Zuniga's dark rice rat	Melanomys zunigae Sanborn	Rodentia	1949 IUCN	Peru, Lomas de Atocongo (hills near Lima)
Dwarf hutia	Mesocapromys nanus Allen, 1917	Rodentia	1937 IUCN	Ciénaga de Zapata
San Felipe hutia, or little Earth hutia	Mesocapromys sanfelipensis Varona & Garrido, 1970	Rodentia	1978 IUCN	Cuba
One-striped opossum	Monodelphis unistriata Wagner, 1842	Marsupialia	1899 IUCN
Gloomy tube-nosed bat	Murina tenebrosa Yoshiyuki, 1970	Chiroptera	1962 IUCN	Tsushima Island and possibly Yaku Island
New Zealand greater short-tailed bat	Mystacina robusta Dwyer, 1962	Chiroptera	1967 IUCN	Big South Cape Island
Ethiopian amphibious rat, or Ethiopian water mouse	Nilopegamys plumbeus Osgood, 1928	Rodentia	1920s IUCN	Mouth of the Lesser Abay River
Lord Howe long-eared bat	Nyctophilus howensis McKean, 1975	Chiroptera	1972 IUCN	Lord Howe Island
Angel Island mouse	Peromyscus guardia Townsend, 1912	Rodentia	1991 IUCN	Isla Ángel de la Guarda
Puebla deer mouse	Peromyscus mekisturus Merriam, 1898	Rodentia	1950s IUCN	Ciudad Serdan and Tehuacán
Telefomin cuscus	Phalanger matanim Flannery, 1987	Marsupialia	1997 IUCN
New Guinea big-eared bat	Pharotis imogene Thomas, 1914	Chiroptera	1890 IUCN	New Guinea, south east Central Province
Christmas Island pipistrelle	Pipistrellus murrayi Andrews, 1900	Chiroptera	2009 IUCN	Christmas Island
Montane monkey-faced bat	Pteralopex pulchra Flannery, 1991	Chiroptera	1990s IUCN
Aru flying fox	Pteropus aruensis Peter, 1867	Chiroptera	1992 IUCN
Vanikoro flying fox	Pteropus tuberculatus Peters, 1869	Chiroptera	1980 early 1900s IUCN
Emma's giant rat	Uromys emmae Groves and Flannery, 1994	Rodentia	1990s IUCN	Owi Island of the Paidaido Islands, Papua Province
Emperor rat	Uromys imperator Thomas, 1888	Rodentia	1888 IUCN	Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal rat	Uromys porculus Thomas, 1904	Rodentia	1888 IUCN	Guadalcanal
Central rock rat	Zyzomys pedunculatus Waite, 1896	Rodentia	2001 [lower-alpha 8] IUCN
Malabar large-spotted civet, or Malabar civet	Viverra civettina Blyth, 1862	Carnivora	1980 late 1900s [lower-alpha 9] IUCN
Bouvier's red colobus	Piliocolobus bouvieri Groves, 2007	Primate	1970s IUCN	Right bank of the Congo river

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Extinct mammals photographed while extant.

• Holocene extinction
• List of extinct animals
• List of extinct birds
• Lists of mammals by population

Notes

References