Timeline of extinctions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

The following is a selective list made by sampling a very small proportion of some of the well-known extinct species in the recent history. For a more elaborate list see List of extinct animals. Also see Holocene extinction for more information.

10th millennium BCE

9th millennium BCE

8th millennium BCE

7th millennium BCE

6th millennium BCE

5th millennium BCE

4th millennium BCE

  • Circa 3010 BCE - Parocnus browni survived on Hispaniola until about this time.[4]

3rd millennium BCE

2nd millennium BCE

1st millennium BCE

1st millennium CE

2nd millennium CE

11th century

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

14th century

  • Circa 1320 - The lemur Megaladapis edwardsi survived in Madagascar until about this time.[4]
  • Circa 1360 - Nesophontes survived in Cuba until around this time.[3]

15th century

16th century

  • Circa 1500 - 1550 - The Waitaha Penguin of South Island became extinct.[6]
  • New Zealand's Haast's eagle, a giant bird of prey, becomes extinct. The eagle's main prey was the moa, which went extinct in the 15th century. Debate looms as to if the Haast's eagle went extinct in the 15th or 16th century.

17th century

  • 1627 - The last known aurochs died in Poland. This large wild cattle formerly inhabited much of Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, and India.[7]
  • 1662 - The last definite sighting of a Mauritius dodo was made.[2] The extinction was due to hunting, but also by the pigs, rats, dogs and cats brought to the island by settlers. The species has become an iconic symbol of animal extinction.[8]
    The moa was one of the largest birds that ever existed.
  • The Elephant bird Aepyornis maximus was last recorded around the end of the 17th century.[6]

18th century

  • 1768 - The Steller's Sea Cow became extinct due to overhunting for meat and leather.[4][9]
  • 1777 - The Society Parakeet population dies out on the Society Islands after vessels released pests.

19th century

  • 1800 - The last known Bluebuck was shot, making the species the first African antelope to be hunted to extinction by European settlers.[11]
  • 1825 - The Mysterious Starling died out.
Quagga
  • 1852 - The last sighting of a Great Auk was made off the coast of Newfoundland. The bird was driven to extinction by hunting for its fat, feathers, meat, and oil.[2][12]
  • 1860 - The String Tree from the island of St Helena becomes extinct because of habitat destruction.
  • 1860 - The Sea Mink becomes extinct because of hunting for its fur.
  • 1875 - The Broad-faced Potoroo was last recorded.[4]
  • 1886 - The red alga known as Bennett's Seaweed from Australia disappears because of the massive human activities.
  • 1890 - The Eastern Hare-wallaby was last recorded.[4]
  • 1890 - 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.
  • 1896 - The Eastern Elk, a subspecies of Elk in the US and Canada, dies out in Minnesota. They were over-hunted for food, clothing, sport and decoration for the Jolly Corkers who used their teeth as symbols.

20th century

1900s

  • 1905 - The last known Honshū wolf of Japan dies in the Nara Prefecture

1910s

  • 1910 - The Usambara Annone from Tanzania no longer grows in the tropical forests.
  • 1914 - "Martha," the last known Passenger Pigeon, dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. Due to massive hunting and deforestation the Passenger Pigeon went from being one of the world's most populous birds to extinction.
  • 1918 - "Incas," the last Carolina Parakeet, dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo, the only parrot species in the Eastern U.S.
    - The last Tarpan, a Ukrainian wild horse, dies in captivity.
    The Thylacine was exterminated into extinction.

1920s

1930s

  • 1933 - The Cry Pansy from Europe becomes extinct due to habitat loss and overcollection in the only place where it grew, France.
  • 1934 - The Indefatigable Galapagos Mouse becomes extinct four years after Darwin's Rice Rat on the same island.
  • 1935 - The Desert Rat-kangaroo was last recorded.[4]
  • 1935 - The Mogollon Mountain wolf was hunted to extinction.[13]
  • 1936 - The last Thylacine, at the time the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, died in captivity.
The Great Auk was hunted for its down until its extinction around 1844.

1940s

  • 1940 - The Cascade Mountain wolf was hunted to extinction.[13]
  • 1942 - The last confirmed sighting of the Barbary lion, although unconfirmed reports surfaced until 1970.[15]

1950s

  • 1952 - Last reliable report of the Caribbean Monk Seal.
  • 1956 - The Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby was last recorded.[4]

1960s

  • 1964 - The Hawaii Chaff Flower of the Hawaiian islands becomes extinct because of habitat loss.
  • 1965 - Last sighting of the Turgid-blossom pearly mussel, an American mussel.[17]
- Last sighting of the yellow-blossom pearlymussel, an American mussel.[17]

1970s

  • Circa 1970 - The Caspian Tiger becomes extinct. Nearly exterminated in the early 20th century the last of its population succumbed to deforestation and hunting.
  • 1972 - The endemic to Jamaica Mason River Myrtle becomes extinct.

1980s

  • 1981 - The Puhielelu Hibiscadelphus becomes extinct.
  • 1981 - Last sighting of the green-blossom pearlymussel, an American mussel.[17]
- The 24-rayed Sunstar (Heliaster solaris) likely becomes extinct due to climate change.[18]
  • 1985 - The gastric-brooding frog or platypus frog (Rheobatrachus silus) became extinct probably because of habitat destruction and disease
  • 1989 - The Golden Toad of Costa Rica becomes extinct, perhaps because of climate change.
- The Atitlán Grebe (Podilymbus gigas) dies out.

1990s

  • 1990 - The Dusky Seaside Sparrow was officially declared extinct in December 1990. The last definite known individual died on 17 June 1987.
  • 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 was probably the reason for the snail's demise.[19]
    The Passenger Pigeon, which went extinct in 1914, had at one time been very widespread.
    - The Hainan Ormosia (a species of legume) which was native to China is no longer seen.

21st century

2000s

  • 2000 - "Celia," the last Pyrenean Ibex dies under a fallen tree. The reasons for its extinction are still being debated. However in 2009 it was cloned back into existence but died 7 minutes later due to defects in the lungs, making it extinct once again.
  • 2003 - The last individual from the St. Helena Olive, which was grown in cultivation, dies off. The last plant in the wild had disappeared in 1994.
  • 2006 - A technologically sophisticated survey of the Yangtze River failed to find specimens of the Baiji Dolphin, prompting scientists to declare it functionally extinct.[20]
  • 2008 - The Liverpool Pigeon (Caloenas maculata) is thought to have become extinct.

2010s

  • 2010 - The Alaotra Grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus) is declared extinct.
  • 2011 - The Eastern Cougar was declared extinct.[21]
  • 2011 - The Western Black Rhinoceros was declared extinct.[22]
  • 2012 - The Japanese River Otter (Lutra lutra whiteneyi) has been declared extinct by the country’s Ministry of the Environment, after not being seen for more than 30 years.
  • 2012 - "Lonesome George," the last known specimen of the Pinta Island Tortoise died on 10 June 2012.
  • 2013 - The Cape Verde Giant Skink, is declared extinct.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Kurtén, Björn; Anderson, Elaine (1980). Pleistocene mammals of North America. Columbia University Press. p. 442. ISBN 0-231-03733-3. Retrieved 2012-02-29. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Adams, Jonathan; Adams, Jonathan S. (2009). Species richness: patterns in the diversity of life. Springer. p. 380. ISBN 3-540-74277-8. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 Haynes, Gary (2009). American megafaunal extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene. Springer. p. 201. ISBN 1-4020-8792-6. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 4.30 4.31 4.32 4.33 4.34 4.35 4.36 4.37 4.38 4.39 4.40 4.41 4.42 4.43 4.44 4.45 Turvey, Sam (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford University Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-19-953509-4. Retrieved 2012-02-29. 
  5. ↑ MacPhee, R. D. E. (1999). Extinctions in near time: causes, contexts, and consequences. Springer. p. 394. ISBN 0-306-46092-0. Retrieved 2012-02-29. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hume, Julian P.; Walters, Michael (2012). Extinct Birds. A&C Black. p. 320. ISBN 1-4081-5862-0. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
  7. ↑ Tikhonov, A. 2008. "Bos primigenius". IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. Downloaded on 9 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Raphus cucullatus at the Recently Extinct Animals website
  9. ↑ Domning, D., Anderson, P.K. & Turvey, S. (2008). "Hydrodamalis gigas (Steller's Sea Cow)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Retrieved 2012-1-28.
  10. ↑ BirdLife International (2008). "Prosobonia leucoptera (Tahitian Sandpiper)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Retrieved 2012-2-29.
  11. ↑ IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group (2008). "Hippotragus leucophaeus (Bluebuck, Blue Buck)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Retrieved 2012-2-29.
  12. ↑ BirdLife International (2008). "Pinguinus impennis (Great Auk)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. Retrieved 2012-2-29.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 http://www.wolfhowl.org/subspecies.php
  14. ↑ Tirira, D., Dowler, R., Boada, C. & Weksler, M. (2008). "Nesoryzomys darwini". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. Retrieved 10-10-2011.
  15. ↑ "Examining the Extinction of the Barbary Lion and Its Implications for Felid Conservation". PLOS ONE. Retrieved 3 April 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Grizzly Bear". New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Retrieved 4 March 2009. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Three American mussel species go extinct". mongabay.com. 2008-08-10. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  18. ↑ "Extinctions on the rise in the Galapagos: fishing and global warming devastating islands' species". mongabay.com. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  19. ↑ "Climate change claims snail". mongabay.org. 2007-08-13. Retrieved 2007-09-22. 
  20. ↑ "Lipotes vexillifer". IUCN Red List. February 2012. Retrieved 2013-02-06. 
  21. ↑ "Eastern cougar declared extinct, confirming decades of suspicion". CNN. 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
  22. ↑ Boettcher, Daniel (2011-10-11). "Western black rhino declared extinct". BBC. 
  23. ↑ "Clouded leopards declared extinct in Taiwan". Tree Hugger. 6 May 2013. 
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