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

The following is a selective list made by sampling a very small proportion, mostly mammals, of some of the well-known extinct species in the recent history. For a more elaborate list see Lists of extinct animals. The vast majority of extinctions, though, are thought to be undocumented. According to the species-area theory and based on upper-bound estimating, the present rate of extinction may be up to 140,000 species per year.[1] See Holocene extinction for more information.

BCE 10th millennium [ edit ]

9th millennium BCE [ edit ]

8th millennium BCE [ edit ]

7th millennium BCE [ edit ]

6th millennium BCE [ edit ]

5th millennium BCE [ edit ]

4th millennium BCE [ edit ]

c. 3010 BCE - The sloth Parocnus browni survived in Cuba until about this time.[14]

3rd millennium BCE [ edit ]

Cape lion

2nd millennium BCE [ edit ]

1st millennium BCE [ edit ]

CE 1st millennium [ edit ]

2nd century [ edit ]

c. 100 - The Maui highland apteribis survived on Maui until around this time.[3]

3rd century [ edit ]

5th century [ edit ]

c. 450 - The turtle genus Meiolania survived until this time on New Caledonia.[20]

6th century [ edit ]

c. 537 - Hadropithecus stenognathus survived in Madagascar until about this time. [3]

537 - survived in Madagascar until about this time. c. 540 - Mesopropithecus pithecoides survived in Madagascar until about this time. [3]

540 - survived in Madagascar until about this time. c. 570 - Alopochen sirabensis survived in Madagascar until around this time.[3]

7th century [ edit ]

c. 685 - The lava shearwater survived until around this time.[3]

8th century [ edit ]

c. 730 - Pachylemur insignis survived in Madagascar until about this time. [3]

730 - survived in Madagascar until about this time. c. 731 - The rodent Heteropsomys insulans survived in Puerto Rico until about this time.[17]

9th century [ edit ]

c. 836 - The coastal moa survived in New Zealand until about this time. [3]

836 - The coastal moa survived in New Zealand until about this time. c. 885 - Daubentonia robusta survived in Madagascar until about this time.[3]

10th century [ edit ]

2nd millennium CE [ edit ]

12th century [ edit ]

14th century [ edit ]

15th century [ edit ]

16th century [ edit ]

17th century [ edit ]

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. [25]

c. 1645 - Finsch's duck survived in New Zealand until around this time. [3]

1645 - Finsch's duck survived in New Zealand until around this time. 1662 - The last definite sighting of a dodo was made in Mauritius. [15] 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. [26] The moa was one of the largest birds that ever existed.

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. The elephant bird Aepyornis maximus was last recorded around the end of the 17th century.[24]

18th century [ edit ]

19th century [ edit ]

1800 - The last known bluebuck was shot, making the species the first African antelope to be hunted to extinction by European settlers. [32]

1825 - The mysterious starling died out. [33]

1826 - The Mauritius blue pigeon becomes extinct due to excessive hunting. [34]

1827 - The Tonga ground skink dies out from its only home in the Tongan Islands.[35]

Quagga

20th century [ edit ]

1900s [ edit ]

1902 - The last known specimens of the Rocky Mountain locust are collected near Brandon, Manitoba. [45]

1905 - The last known Honshū wolf of Japan dies in Nara Prefecture. [46]

1907 - The huia, a native bird of New Zealand, is last seen. Habitat loss, hunting, and disease all played a role in its extinction. [47]

1909 - The last known tarpan, a Polish wild horse, died in captivity.[48]

1910s [ edit ]

1911 - The last Newfoundland wolf was shot. [44]

1914 - The last passenger pigeon, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. Excessive hunting contributed to its extinction; it was formerly one of the world's most abundant birds. [49]

1918 - The last Carolina parakeet died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. The bird, formerly inhabiting the southeastern United States, was driven to extinction by exploitation, deforestation, and competition with introduced bees.[50]

1920s [ edit ]

1930s [ edit ]

The thylacine was exterminated into extinction.

1940s [ edit ]

1950s [ edit ]

1960s [ edit ]

1970s [ edit ]

1980s [ edit ]

1990s [ edit ]

3rd millennium CE [ edit ]

21st century [ edit ]

2000s [ edit ]

2000 - "Celia", the last Pyrenean ibex, was found dead in 2000. However, in 2003, a female was cloned back into existence, but died shortly after birth due to defects in the lungs. [84] [85]

2003 - The last individual from the St. Helena olive, which was grown in cultivation, dies off. The last plant in the wild had died in 1994. [86]

2006 - A technologically sophisticated survey of the Yangtze River failed to find specimens of the baiji dolphin, prompting scientists to declare it functionally extinct.[87]

2010s [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]