List of recently extinct mammals

See also: List of prehistoric mammals

Biodiversity of large mammal species per continent before and after humans' arrival
Mammals by population
Lists

Even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla)
Carnivorans (Carnivora)
Cetaceans (Cetacea)
Bats (Chiroptera)
Odd-toed ungulates (Perissodactyla)
Primates (Primates)
Key

Conservation status

  Extinct in the wild (EW)
  Critically Endangered (CR)
  Endangered (EN)
  Vulnerable (VU)
  Near Threatened (NT)
  Least Concern (LC)
  Data Deficient (DD)
Related
Lists of organisms by population
List of birds by population
Mammal classification
List of recently extinct mammals
Lists of mammals by region
2 extinct in the wild mammalian species (0.03%)203 critically endangered mammalian species (3.5%)505 endangered mammalian species (8.7%)536 vulnerable mammalian species (9.3%)345 near threatened mammalian species (6.0%)3306 least concern mammalian species (57%)872 data deficient mammalian species (15%)
Mammalian species (IUCN, 2020-1)
  • 5850 extant species have been evaluated
  • 4978 of those are fully assessed[a]
  • 3651 are not threatened at present[b]
  • 1244 to 2116 are threatened[c]
  • 81 to 83 are extinct or extinct in the wild:
    • 81 extinct (EX) species[d]
    • 2 extinct in the wild (EW)
    • 0 possibly extinct [CR(PE)]
    • 0 possibly extinct in the wild [CR(PEW)]
  1. ^ excludes data deficient evaluations.
  2. ^ NT and LC.
  3. ^ Threatened comprises CR, EN and VU. Upper estimate additionally includes DD.
  4. ^ Chart omits extinct (EX) species

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.[1] Since then, roughly 80 mammal species have become extinct.[2]

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.[1]

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.[3]

As of June 2023, the IUCN listed 233 mammalian species as critically endangered, while 27% of all mammalian species were threatened with extinction.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Fisher, Diana O.; Blomberg, Simon P. (2011). "Correlates of rediscovery and the detectability of extinction in mammals". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 278 (1708): 1090–1097. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1579. PMC 3049027. PMID 20880890.
  2. ^ Ceballos, G.; Ehrlich, A. H.; Ehrlich, P. R. (2015). The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1421417189. "69"
  3. ^ Macphee, Ross D. E.; Flemming, Clare (1999). "Requiem Æternam: the last five hundred years of mammalian species extinctions". In MacPhee, Ross D. E.; Sues, Hans-Dieter (eds.). Extinctions in Near Time. Advances in Vertebrate Paleobiology. Vol. 2. ISBN 978-1-4419-3315-7.
  4. ^ "IUCN Red List version 2022.2". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Retrieved 21 June 2023.