Timeline of extinctions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The timeline of extinctions is an historical account of species that have gone extinct during the time that modern humans have occupied the earth.

[edit] Holocene Mass Extinction

Main article: Holocene Mass Extinction

[edit] 11th millennium BC

Circa 10,000 BC — North America: Dire Wolf, Smilodon, Cave Lion, Giant beaver, Ground sloth, Mammoth, and American lion all become extinct.

— Homo floresiensis, the human's last known surviving close relative, becomes extinct.

[edit] 7th millennium BC

Circa 6,000 BC — Steppe Wisent, a bison species inhabiting steppe from Asia to North America, disappears.

[edit] 4th millennium BC

Circa 4,000 BC - Tilos dwarf elephant was the last surviving paleoloxodontine in Europe. They lived on the island of Tilos in the Mediterranean.

[edit] 1st millennium BC

Circa 100 BC — Syrian Elephant becomes extinct due to overhunting for ivory.

[edit] 1st millennium AD

[edit] 11th century

Circa 1000 — Extinction of four species of the moa-nalo on the Hawaiian Island. The moa-nalo were large ducks and the island's major herbivores.

[edit] 2nd millennium AD

[edit] 16th century

Circa 1500 — New Zealand's Moa, a large flightless bird, goes extinct.

— Madagascar's Megaladapis includes three species of giant lemurs. Human arrival to Madagascar caused vast destruction of its forests causing the giant lemurs' extinction.

[edit] 17th century

1627 — The last known Auroch dies. This large wild cattle was indigenous to much of Europe.

1662 — The last known Mauritius dodo dies. The extinction was due to hunting, but also by the pigs, rats, dogs and cats brought to the island by settlers. Later the species has become an icon on animal extinction^[1].

[edit] 18th century

1768 — The Steller's Sea Cow becomes extinct due to hunting for food, oil, and skins.

[edit] 19th century

Circa 1870s — The last known Atlas Bear, Africa's only native bear, is killed by hunters in Morocco. The bear was heavily hunted and used for sport in the Roman Empire.

1875 - The Broad-faced Potoroo became extinct.

1876 — The Falkland Island fox becomes extinct due to intended extermination by human settlers.

1883 — The Quagga, a sub-species of the plains zebra, goes extinct.

1884 — The last known Great Auk killed. The bird was hunted to extinction.

1889 - The Eastern Hare-wallaby becomes extinct.

[edit] 20th century

[edit] 1910s

1914 — The last known Passenger Pigeon dies. Due to massive hunting to feed the poor and slaves the Passenger Pigeon went from being one of the world's most populous birds to extinction.

1918 — The Carolina Parakeet goes extinct, the only parrot species in the Eastern U.S.

— The last Tarpan, a Ukranian wild horse, dies in captivity.

[edit] 1930s

1930 — Last known Giant Aye-aye killed in Madagascar. The species was 2.5-5 times the size of the endangered Aye-aye.

1935 - The Desert Rat-kangaroo becomes extinct.

1936 — The Thylacine, at the time the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, is declared extinct.

[edit] 1940s

1943 - The Toolache Wallaby declared extinct.

[edit] 1950s

Circa 1950 — The Israel painted frog goes extinct because its marsh habitat is drained.

1952 — Last reliable report of the Caribbean Monk Seal.

1956 - Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby declared extinct.

[edit] 1960s

1962 — A survey found no surviving Titicaca Orestias, a fish native to Lake Titicaca in Peru.
1963 The last Cape Lion was killed in South Africa.
1966 The last Arabian Ostrich died.

[edit] 1970s

Circa 1970 — The Caspian Tiger becomes extinct. Nearly exterminated by the Russian government in the early 20th century the last of its population succumbed to deforestation and hunting.

[edit] 1980s

1989 — The Golden Toad of Costa Rica becomes extinct due to climate change.

[edit] 1990s

1994 — Saint Croix Racer, a snake native to the Virgin Islands, declared extinct.

— Levuana Moth from Hawaii goes extinct.

1997 - Last known Aldabra banded snail from the Seychelles Islands found. Scientists believe global warming may have been the reason for the snail's demise. ^[2]

[edit] 21st century

2000 — The last Pyrenean Ibex dies under a fallen tree. The reasons for its extinction are still being debated.

2006 — China's freshwater river dolphin, the baiji, declared "functionally extinct"^[3] after a survey failed to find a single animal.

— West Black Rhinoceros (a subspecies of the Black Rhino). The World Conservation Union has declared the subspecies to be tentatively extinct ^[4]; the last population was in Cameroon.