Recently extinct mammals are defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as any mammals that have become extinct since the year 1500 CE. Since then, roughly 80 mammal species have become extinct. "69"

Extinction of taxa is difficult to confirm, as a long gap 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. 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.

As of October 2026, the IUCN listed 236 mammalian species as critically endangered, while 26% of all mammalian species were threatened with extinction.

Conventions All species listed here as extinct (no known individuals remaining) are designated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Species which are extinct in the wild only reside in captivity. Species listed as possibly extinct are classified as being critically endangered, as it is unknown whether or not these species are extinct. Extinct subspecies such as the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) 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 where available, and a description of their former or current range is given if a range map is not available.

Causes of extinction Anthropogenic (human caused) habitat degradation is the main cause of species extinctions now. The main cause of habitat degradation worldwide is agriculture, with urban sprawl, logging, mining and some fishing practices close behind. The physical destruction of a habitat, both directly (deforestation for land development or lumber) and indirectly (burning fossil fuels), is an example of this.

Also, increasing toxicity, through media such as pesticides, can kill off a species very rapidly, by killing all living members through contamination or sterilizing them. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), for example, can bioaccumulate to hazardous levels, getting increasingly dangerous further up the food chain.

Disease can also be a factor: white nose syndrome in bats, for example, is causing a substantial decline in their populations and may even lead to the extinction of some species.

Overhunting also has an impact. 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—leading to the extinction of the Steller's sea cow. The hunting of an already limited species can easily lead to its extinction, as with the bluebuck whose range was confined to and which was hunted into extinction soon after discovery by European settlers.

Australia Island creatures are usually endemic to only that island, and that limited range and small population can leave them vulnerable to sudden changes. While Australia is a continent and not an island, due to its geographical isolation, its unique fauna has 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). 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.

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. Recently extinct species are defined by the IUCN as becoming extinct after 1500 CE.

Common nameBinomial nameOrderDate of extinctionFormer rangePictureBroad-faced potorooPotorous platyops Diprotodontia1875 AustraliaEastern hare wallabyLagorchestes leporidesDiprotodontia1889 Lake Mackay hare-wallabyLagorchestes asomatusDiprotodontia1932 AustraliaDesert rat-kangarooCaloprymnus campestrisDiprotodontia1935 Thylacineor Tasmanian wolf/tigerThylacinus cynocephalusDasyuromorphia1936 Toolache wallabyMacropus greyiDiprotodontia1939 AustraliaDesert bandicootPerameles eremianaPeramelemorphia1943 AustraliaNew South Wales barred bandicootPerameles fasciataPeramelemorphiamid-19th centuryAustraliaSouthwestern barred bandicootPerameles myosurosPeramelemorphiamid-19th centuryAustraliaSouthern barred bandicootPerameles notinaPeramelemorphiamid-19th centuryAustraliaNullarbor barred bandicootPerameles papillonPeramelemorphia early 20th centuryAustraliaLesser bilbyor yallaraMacrotis leucuraPeramelemorphia1960s Southern pig-footed bandicootChaeropus ecaudatusPeramelemorphia1950s Northern pig-footed bandicootChaeropus yirratjiPeramelemorphia1950s Crescent nail-tail wallabyOnychogalea lunataDiprotodontia1956 Australia (western and central)Red-bellied gracile opossumor red-bellied gracile mouse opossumCryptonanus ignitusDidelphimorphia1962 ArgentinaDesert bettongBettongia anhydraDiprotodontia1950s or 1960s AustraliaNullarbor dwarf bettongBettongia pusillaDiprotodontia early 1500s Australia (Nullarbor Plain) Steller's sea cowHydrodamalis gigasSirenia1768 Commander Islands (Russia, United States)Bramble Cay melomysMelomys rubicolaRodentia2016 Australia (Bramble Cay)Oriente cave ratBoromys offellaRodentia early 1500s CubaTorre's cave rat Boromys torreiRodentia early 1500s CubaImposter hutia Hexolobodon phenaxRodentia early 1500s Hispaniola (currently Haiti and the Dominican Republic)Montane hutiaIsolobodon montanusRodentia early 1500s HispaniolaDwarf viscachaLagostomus crassusRodentia early 1900s PeruGalápagos giant rat Megaoryzomys curioiRodentia 1500s Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)Cuban coneyGeocapromys columbianusRodentia early 1500s CubaHispaniolan edible rat Brotomys voratusRodentia1536–1546 HispaniolaPuerto Rican hutiaIsolobodon portoricensisRodentia early 1900s Hispaniola; introduced to Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas Island, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and Mona IslandBig-eared hopping mouse Notomys macrotisRodentia1843 Australia (central Western Australia)Darling Downs hopping mouseNotomys mordaxRodentia1846 Australia (Darling Downs, Queensland)White-footed rabbit-ratConilurus albipesRodentia early 1860s Australia (eastern coast)Capricorn rabbit ratConilurus capricornensisRodentia early 1500s Australia (Queensland)Short-tailed hopping mouseNotomys amplusRodentia1896 Australia (Great Sandy Desert)Long-tailed hopping mouse Notomys longicaudatusRodentia1901 AustraliaGreat hopping mouseNotomys robustusRodentia mid-1800s Australia (Flinders Ranges and Davenport Ranges)Desmarest's pilorieor Martinique giant rice ratMegalomys desmarestiiRodentia1902 MartiniqueSaint Lucia pilorieor Saint Lucia giant rice ratMegalomys luciaeRodentia1881 Saint LuciaBulldog ratRattus nativitatisRodentia1903 Christmas IslandMaclear's ratRattus macleariRodentia1903 Christmas IslandDarwin's Galápagos mouseNesoryzomys darwiniRodentia1930 Galápagos IslandsPlains rator palyooraPseudomys auritusRodentia early 1800s Australia (Kangaroo Island and the Younghusband Peninsula)Pemberton's deer mousePeromyscus pembertoniRodentia1931 San Pedro Nolasco Island, Mexico Samaná hutiaPlagiodontia ipnaeumRodentia early 1500s HispaniolaHispaniola monkeyAntillothrix bernensisPrimates early 16th centuryHispaniola (currently Dominican Republic)Jamaican monkeyXenothrix mcgregoriPrimates1707-1725 JamaicaLesser stick-nest rator white-tipped stick-nest ratLeporillus apicalisRodentia1933 Australia (west-central)Indefatigable Galápagos mouse Nesoryzomys indefessusRodentia1934 Galápagos IslandsLittle Swan Island hutiaGeocapromys thoracatusRodentia1955 Swan Islands, HondurasBlue-gray mousePseudomys glaucusRodentia1956 Australia (Queensland, New South Wales)Buhler's coryphomysor Buhler's ratCoryphomys buehleriRodentia early 1500s West Timor, IndonesiaInsular cave ratHeteropsomys insulansRodentia early 1500s Vieques Island, Puerto RicoCandango mouseJuscelinomys candangoRodentia1960 Central BrazilAnthony's woodratNeotoma anthonyiRodentia1926 Isla Todos Santos, MexicoBunker's woodratNeotoma bunkeriRodentia1931 Coronado Islands, MexicoVespucci's rodentNoronhomys vespucciiRodentia1500 Fernando de Noronha, BrazilSt. Vincent colilargoor St. Vincent pygmy rice ratOligoryzomys victusRodentia1892 Saint VincentJamaican rice ratOryzomys antillarumRodentia1877 JamaicaNelson's rice ratOryzomys nelsoniRodentia1897 Islas Marías, MexicoNevis rice rat, St. Eustatius rice rat, or St. Kitts rice ratPennatomys nivalisRodentia early 1500s Sint Eustatius and Saint Kitts and NevisChristmas Island pipistrellePipistrellus murrayiChiroptera2009 Christmas IslandSturdee's pipistrellePipistrellus sturdeeiChiroptera1889 Bonin IslandsSardinian pikaProlagus sardusLagomorpha1774 Corsica and SardiniaChristmas Island shrewCrocidura trichuraEulipotyphla1985 Christmas IslandMarcano's solenodonSolenodon marcanoiEulipotyphla 1500s Dominican RepublicPuerto Rican nesophontesNesophontes edithaeEulipotyphla early 1500s Puerto Rico, Vieques Island, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands and Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin IslandsAtalaye nesophontesNesophontes hypomicrusEulipotyphla early 1500s HispaniolaGreater Cuban nesophontesNesophontes majorEulipotyphla early 1500s CubaWestern Cuban nesophontesNesophontes micrusEulipotyphla early 1500s Cuba (including Isla de la Juventud)St. Michel nesophontesNesophontes paramicrusEulipotyphla early 1500s HispaniolaHaitian nesophontesNesophontes zamicrusEulipotyphla early 1500s HaitiSmall Samoan flying foxPteropus allenorumChiroptera1856 SamoaLarge Samoan flying foxPteropus coxiChiroptera1839–1841 SamoaLesser Mascarene flying foxor dark flying foxPteropus subnigerChiroptera1864 Réunion, MauritiusGuam flying foxor Guam fruit batPteropus tokudaeChiroptera1968 GuamDusky flying foxor Percy Island flying foxPteropus brunneusChiroptera1870 Percy Islands (Australia)Large Palau flying foxPteropus pilosusChiroptera1874 PalauLarge sloth lemurPalaeopropithecus ingensPrimates1620 In greenAurochsBos primigeniusArtiodactyla1627 BluebuckHippotragus leucophaeusArtiodactyla1800 Red gazelle Eudorcas rufinaArtiodactyla late 1800s AlgeriaIndo-Chinese warty pigSus bucculentusArtiodactyla1892 VietnamSchomburgk's deerRucervus schomburgkiArtiodactyla1932 ThailandQueen of Sheba's gazelleor Yemen gazelleGazella bilkisArtiodactyla1951 YemenSaudi gazelleGazella saudiyaArtiodactyla1970Arabian PeninsulaLemerle's dwarf hippopotamusHippopotamus lemerleiArtiodactyla early 1500s MadagascarFalkland Islands wolf or warrahDusicyon australisCarnivora1876 Falkland Islands Dusicyon avus Dusicyon avusCarnivora early 1500s Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, ParaguaySea minkNeogale macrodonCarnivora1894 United States (Maine, Massachusetts) and Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland) Japanese sea lionZalophus japonicusCarnivora1970s Japan, Korea, RussiaCaribbean monk sealNeomonachus tropicalisCarnivora1952 Caribbean SeaGiant fossaCryptoprocta speleaCarnivora before 1658 Lord Howe long-eared bat Nyctophilus howensisChiroptera prior to 1972 Lord Howe Island, AustraliaJapanese otterLutra nippon Imaizumi & Yoshiyuki, 1989Carnivora1990s JapanChristmas Island shrewCrocidura trichuraEulipotyphla1985