This is a list of North American animals extinct in the Holocene that covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years before present (about 9700 BCE) and continues to the present day.[1]
Recently extinct animals in the West Indies and Hawaii are in their own respective lists.
Many extinction dates are unknown due to a lack of relevant information.
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jefferson's ground sloth | Megalonyx jeffersoni | Alaska to northern Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 9540-9420 BCE. | ||
Xibalbaonyx oviceps | Puerto Morelos, Mexico | Most recent remains at El Zapote cenote dated to 8697-8355 BCE. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbian mammoth | Mammuthus columbi | Southern and Western United States, and northern Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 8080-7700 BCE. | ||
Pygmy mammoth | Mammuthus exilis | Santa Rosae island, California | Most recent remains dated to 9130-9030 BCE. | ||
Woolly mammoth | Mammuthus primigenius | Northern Eurasia and North America | Most recent remains at St. Paul, Alaska dated to 3635-3580 BCE.[5] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gull Island vole | Microtus pennsylvanicus nesophilus | Great Gull Island, New York | Disappeared around 1900, when the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound were built.[9] | ||
Anthony's woodrat | Neotoma bryanti anthonyi | Isla Todos Santos, Mexico | Last recorded in 1926. Extinct due to predation by introduced feral cats.[10] | ||
Bunker's woodrat | Neotoma bryanti bunkeri | Coronados Islands, Mexico | Last recorded in 1931. Likely extinct due to depletion of food sources and predation by introduced cats.[11] | ||
San Martín Island woodrat | Neotoma bryanti martinensis | Isla San Martín, Mexico | Last recorded in the 1950s. Extinct due to predation by introduced cats.[12] | ||
Nelson's rice rat | Oryzomys nelsoni | María Madre Island, Mexico | Last recorded in 1897. Possibly extinct due to introduced black rats.[13] | ||
Giant island deer mouse | Peromyscus nesodytes | Channel Islands of California | Most recent remains at Cave of the Chimneys, San Miguel Island, dated to around 950 CE. If the species survived into colonial times it might have become extinct due to overgrazing, increased wind and water erosion destroying its natural habitat.[14] | ||
Pallid beach mouse | Peromyscus polionotus decoloratus | Coastal Florida | Last recorded in 1946. Extinct due to extensive habitat loss.[15] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Goff's pocket gopher | Geomys pinetis goffi | Pineda Ridge, Florida | Last recorded in 1955.[17] | |
Tacoma pocket gopher | Thomomys mazama tacomensis | Tacoma-Steilacoom, Washington area | Last collected in 1962. Extinct due to habitat alteration through residential development and gravel mining. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kenai Peninsula wolf | Canis lupus alces | Kenai Peninsula, Alaska | Exterminated through hunting, trapping, and poisoning by 1915. Wolves recolonized the Peninsula in 1962, a decade after predator eradication efforts were reduced.[20] | ||
Newfoundland wolf | Canis lupus beothucus | Newfoundland | Last known individual killed in 1896.[21] | ||
Banks Island wolf | Canis lupus bernardi | Banks Island, Northwest Territories | Last recorded between 1918 and 1952.[22] Considered a synonym of the arctic wolf (C. l. arctos) by some authors on morphological grounds.[23] | ||
Cascade Mountains wolf | Canis lupus fuscus | Pacific Northwest | Last recorded in 1940. Considered a synonym of the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) by some authors. | ||
Mogollon mountain wolf | Canis lupus mogollonensis | Arizona | Last recorded in 1935. Considered a synonym of the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) or the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) by different authors. | ||
Texas gray wolf | Canis lupus monstrabilis | Texas | Last recorded in 1942. Considered a synonym of the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) by some authors. | ||
Southern Rocky Mountain wolf | Canis lupus youngi | Southern Rocky Mountains | Last recorded in 1935.[24] | ||
Florida black wolf | Canis rufus floridanus | Eastern United States | Extinct by 1920 as a result of deliberate eradication efforts, habitat destruction, and loss of prey.[25] | ||
Gregory's wolf | Canis rufus gregoryi | Lower Mississippi Valley[26] | |||
Southern California kit fox | Vulpes macrotis macrotis | Southern California coast | Last collected in 1903.[27] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mexican wolf | Canis lupus baileyi | Southwestern United States and northern Mexico | Extirpated from the wild in the early 1970s and reintroduced in 1998.[28] | ||
Texas red wolf | Canis rufus rufus | Central Texas to southern Louisiana | Extinct in the wild by 1980 and introduced (in lieu of the extinct subspecies) to eastern North Carolina in 1987. The species is threatened by human persecution and hybridization with coyotes.[29] Declined as a result of deliberate eradication efforts, habitat destruction, and hybridization with the coyote. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
California grizzly bear | Population of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) | California | Last recorded at Sequoia National Park in 1924.[31] Though once named as the subspecies U. a. californicus, DNA evidence shows that it is not different enough to warrant separate status.[32] | ||
Mexican grizzly bear | Population of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) | Aridoamerica | Last known individual killed in northern Sonora in 1976.[33] Though once named as the subspecies U. a. nelsoni, DNA evidence shows that it is not different enough to warrant separate status. | ||
Ungava brown bear | Population of the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) | Ungava Peninsula, Quebec | Known from subfossil remains, indigenous folklore and sporadic hunting records of the 18th and 19th centuries. Possible last sighting in 1942, but it could also have been a brown morph of the American black bear.[34] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stag-moose | Cervalces scotti | Great Lakes Region | Most recent remains dated to 9230-8930 BCE. | ||
Eastern elk | Population of the North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis canadensis) | Eastern North America | Traditionally considered the nominate subspecies, but genetic research indicates that there are not enough differences to consider separate subspecies of C. canadensis in North America, and the taxon C. c. canadensis is not extinct as a result.[44] [45] The last confirmed individual was killed near the Clarion River of central Pennsylvania in 1867, though there were unconfirmed sightings in 1869-1870, and ten claimed killings in northern Pennsylvania in 1878. Western elk were reintroduced for hunting purposes in the same state in 1912.[46] | ||
Merriam's elk | Population of the North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis canadensis) | New Mexico, Arizona, and West Texas | Named as the species Cervus merriami in 1902 on the basis of a single skull; in 1978, an anatomical review of a dozen individuals found just enough of a case to consider it a subspecies of Cervus elaphus (later C. canadensis). Further anatomical and genetic research suggest that all American wapiti likely belong to the same subspecies and that the taxon C. c. merriami is a synonym of C. c. canadensis. Wapiti from other regions have been reintroduced to the purported distribution area of Merriam's elk. | ||
Queen Charlotte Islands caribou | Population of the caribou (Rangifer tarandus) | Graham Island, British Columbia | Described as the subspecies R. t. dawsoni in 1900 due to its isolated location and anatomical differences, but mtDNA studies in 2002 showed not enough differences to warrant separate status.[47] The last known herd was found in 1908, comprising two adult males, one female, and one calf; all but the calf were killed.[48] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ancient bison | Bison antiquus | North America | A transitional form between steppe bison and modern American bison whose more recent remains date to the early Holocene of Valsequillo basin in Puebla, Mexico. However the direct dating to 5271-5131 BCE is not calibrated and the remains could be older.[49] Other remains in North America have been dated to 8640-8500 BCE. | ||
Western bison | Bison occidentalis | Eastern Beringia | Another transitional form to American bison that originated in a second dispersal of steppe bison across Beringia, and persisted in Alaska until around 220 CE.[50] | ||
Steppe bison | Bison priscus | Northern Eurasia and North America | Most recent remains at Whitehorse, Yukon dated to 3628-3377 BCE.[51] | ||
Woodland muskox | Bootherium bombifrons | North America | Most recent remains dated to 9110-8950 BCE. | ||
Shrub-ox | Euceratherium collinum | Western United States and Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 9830-9530 BCE. | ||
Harrington's mountain goat | Oreamnos harringtoni | Southern Rocky Mountains | Most recent remains at Rampart Cave, Arizona dated to 11099-8478 BCE.[52] |
-- sortable-->" | Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Californian turkey | Meleagris californica | California | Most recent remains dated to 9100-8380 BCE. However this date was not calibrated and the remains could be older. | ||
Southwestern turkey | Meleagris crassipes | New Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 11510-8770 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Heath hen | Tympanuchus cupido cupido | East coast of the United States | Last individual, a male, died in Martha's Vineyard in 1932. | ||
New Mexico sharp-tailed grouse | Tympanuchus phasianellus hueyi | New Mexico and possibly Colorado | Last individual killed in Colfax County, New Mexico in 1952. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schneider's teal | Anas schneideri | Little Box Elder Cave, Wyoming | Most recent remains dated to 8800-8300 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Labrador duck | Camptorhynchus labradorius | Atlantic coast of Canada and New England | Last confirmed individual killed in 1875; unconfirmed in 1878. | ||
Law's diving-goose | Chendytes lawi | Coastal California and Oregon | Most recent remains at Ventura County, California dated to 770-400 BCE.[54] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Slender teratorn | Cathartornis gracilis | Southern California | Most recent remains dated to 38050-8050 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Merriam's teratorn | Teratornis merriami | Southern California to northern Arizona | Most recent remains dated to 9050-8050 BCE (uncalibrated date). |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daggett's eagle | Buteogallus daggetti | Southwestern United States and Nuevo León, Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 10250-9180 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Woodward's eagle | Buteogallus woodwardi | California to Florida and the Caribbean | Most recent remains dated to 38050-8050 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Neophrontops americanus | Rancho La Brea, California | Most recent remains dated to 10230-7630 BCE (uncalibrated date). | |||
Grinnell's hawk-eagle | Spizaetus grinnelli | Rancho La Brea, California | Most recent remains dated to 10250-9180 BCE (uncalibrated date). |
-- sortable-->" | Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Socorro elf owl | Micrathene whitneyi graysoni | Socorro Island, Mexico | Last recorded around 1970. Likely extinct due to predation by introduced cats. | ||
La Brea owl | Oraristrix brea | Southern California | Most recent remains dated to 10250-9180 BCE (uncalibrated date). |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Imperial woodpecker | Campephilus imperialis | North-central Mexico | Last confirmed record in Durango in 1956, but unconfirmed sightings continued until 2005 in the Copper Canyon of Chihuahua. Declined due to habitat destruction and poisoning by loggers, along with hunting for sport, food, and traditional medicine.[67] | ||
American ivory-billed woodpecker | Campephilus principalis principalis | Southern United States | Last confirmed record in north-eastern Louisiana in 1944. Several unconfirmed sightings, video and sound records were made in eastern Arkansas in 2004, the Choctawhatchee River in Florida in 2005-2007, and 2006-2007 in Louisiana. Declined due to hunting, logging and forest clearance for agriculture.[68] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Large-billed black bird | Euphagus magnirostris | California to Venezuela and Peru | Most recent remains dated to 8800-8300 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Convex-billed cowbird | Pandanaris convexa | California and Florida to Peru | Most recent remains dated to 38050-8050 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Pyelorhamphus molothroides | Shelter Cave, New Mexico | Most recent remains dated to 29300-9380 BCE (uncalibrated date). | |||
Slender-billed grackle | Quiscalus palustris | Lerma River and Xochimilco, Mexico | Last collected in 1910. Extinct due to the draining of its marsh habitat.[72] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dusky seaside sparrow | Ammospiza maritima nigrescens | Merritt Island and Titusville, Florida | Declined due to DDT use in marshes and habitat loss caused by dam construction. In 1981 the last five individuals, all male, were captured and taken into captivity. However, a proposed plan to hybridize them with Scott's seaside sparrow and select the offspring with most dusky ancestry wasn't allowed because of legal restrictions against hybridizing endangered taxa.[73] The last individual died in Walt Disney World's Discovery Island Zoological Park in Orlando, Florida in 1987. | |
Pipilo angelensis | Rancho La Brea, California | Most recent remains dated to 38050-8050 BCE (uncalibrated date). | ||
Guadalupe towhee | Pipilo maculatus consobrinus | Guadalupe Island, Mexico | Last recorded in 1897. Extinct due to destruction of nesting habitat by introduced goats, and predation by cats. | |
Zacatecas Worthen's sparrow | Spizella wortheni browni | Northwest Zacatecas, Mexico | Last recorded in 1961. Extinct due to habitat loss to agriculture, overgrazing and erosion by cattle herding, and decline of native herbivores which maintained the bird's habitat. | |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Benedicto rock wren | Salpinctes obsoletus exsul | San Benedicto Island, Mexico | Wiped out by the eruption of El Boquerón volcano in 1952. | |
Guadalupe wren | Thryomanes bewickii brevicauda | Guadalupe Island, Mexico | Last recorded in 1897. Extinct due to habitat destruction by introduced goats. | |
San Clemente wren | Thryomanes bewickii leucophrys | San Clemente Island, California | Last recorded in 1968. Extinct due to habitat destruction by introduced goats and sheep. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Southeastern giant tortoise | Hesperotestudo crassiscutata | Southern United States | Most recent remains dated to around 9515 BCE.[75] | |
Wilson's tortoise | Hesperotestudo wilsoni | Southwestern United States | Most recent remains dated to around 9050 BCE. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chiriqui harlequin frog | Atelopus chiriquiensis | Talamanca-Chiriqui Mountains, Costa Rica | Last recorded in 1996. Extinct due to chytridiomycosis caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.[76] | ||
Pass stubfoot toad | Atelopus senex | Central Costa Rica | Last recorded in 1986. Extinct due to chytridiomycosis.[77] | ||
Golden toad | Incilius periglenes | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica | Last recorded in 1989. Probably extinct due to climate change, chytridiomycosis, and airborne pollution.[78] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wyoming toad | Anaxyrus baxteri | Laramie Basin, Wyoming | Survives only at the four-times impounded Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where it last reproduced naturally in 1991 and is re-stocked annually with captive born toadlets. The species is affected by chytridiomycosis, bacteria, pesticides, irrigation practices, lack of genetic diversity, predation by mustelids, drought, increased salinity, and expansion of the salt cedar which reduces habitat suitability.[79] | ||
Panamanian golden frog | Atelopus zeteki | El Valle de Antón and Cerro Campana, Panama | Last recorded in the wild in 2009. The species is mainly threatened by chytridiomycosis, but also deforestation, water pollution, collection for the pet trade, and increased sedimentation of streams caused by road construction.[80] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ainsworth's salamander | Plethodon ainsworthi | Jasper County, Mississippi | Last recorded in 1964. Possibly extinct due to deforestation.[86] | |
Jalpa false brook salamander | Pseudoeurycea exspectata | Cerro Miramundo, Jalapa, Guatemala | Last recorded in 1976. Possibly extinct due to habitat loss to farming and logging.[87] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Snake River sucker | Chasmistes muriei | Jackson Lake, Wyoming and possibly the Snake River | Only known from the holotype collected in 1927. Likely extinct due to hybridization with the Utah sucker after the Jackson Lake Dam was built and blocked spawning migration. | ||
Harelip sucker | Lagochila lacera | Southeastern United States | Last collected in 1893. Though originally abundant and widely spread, the species inhabited only deep clearwater pools and fed almost entirely on molluscs. It likely became extinct due to increased siltation and turbidity caused by agriculture practices, which both reduced the number of molluscs and made them more difficult to find. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maravillas red shiner | Cyprinella lutrensis blairi | Maravillas Creek, Texas | Last collected in 1954. Exterminated by introduced plains killifish. | ||
Mexican dace | Evarra bustamantei | Xochimilco-Tlahuac channels in the Valley of Mexico | Last collected in 1970. Likely extinct due to habitat destruction through pollution and water extraction.[88] | ||
Plateau chub | Evarra eigenmanni | Chalco and Xochimilco-Tlahuac channels | Last collected in 1954. Likely extinct due to habitat destruction through pollution and water extraction.[89] | ||
Endorheic chub | Evarra tlahuacensis | Lake Chalco in the Valley of Mexico | Last collected in 1970. Extinct due to habitat destruction and water pollution.[90] | ||
Thicktail chub | Gila crassicauda | California Central Valley and San Francisco Bay | Last collected in 1957. Extinct due to the conversion of the Central Valley to intensive agriculture, marsh draining, channelization of rivers and introduction of extotic fish species. | ||
Pahranagat spinedace | Lepidomeda altivelis | Pahranagat Valley, Nevada | Last collected in 1938. Extinct due to predation by, and competition with the mosquitofish and other introduced species. | ||
Durango shiner | Notropis aulidion | Tunal River, Durango, Mexico | Last collected in 1961. Possibly extinct due to pollution, competition and predation by the largemouth bass and other introduced species. | ||
Salado shiner | Notropis saladonis | Salado River, Mexico | Not found in any sampling expeditions launched since 1988. The reasons of extinction are unknown.[91] | ||
Rio Grande bluntnose shiner | Notropis simus simus | Upper Rio Grande and the Pecos River | Last collected in 1964. Possibly extinct due to changes in the water flow caused by dams, irrigation, and channelization, along with competition from introduced species. | ||
Phantom shiner | Notropis orca | Rio Grande | The only pure individual known is the holotype taken in 1975, though hybrids with the bluntnose shiner are known as far as 1891. Possibly extinct due to changes to the water flow (which increased hybridization), increased salinity caused by irrigation, and introduced fish species. | ||
Clear Lake splittail | Pogonichthys ciscoides | Clear Lake and its tributaries, California | Last collected in 1970. Extinct due to extreme eutrophication of the lake caused by agriculture. | ||
Banff longnose dace | Rhinichthys cataractae smithi | Banff National Park, Alberta | Extinct since 1986.[92] Declined after the introduction of several exotic species including mosquitofishes, sailfin mollies, guppies, convict cichlids, and green swordtails, followed by the alteration of water flows related to the use of hotsprings as public baths and sewage spillage. As numbers fell the subspecies became more vulnerable to hybridization with R. c. cataractae, which caused its final extinction. | ||
Las Vegas dace | Rhinichthys deaconi | Las Vegas Valley, Nevada | Last collected in 1940. The springs it inhabited were destroyed during the urban development of Las Vegas. | ||
Grass Valley speckled dace | Rhinichthys osculus reliquus | Lander County, Nevada | Known only from the type series of 474 specimens collected in 1938. Though abundant in this time, it was completely gone and replaced by introduced rainbow trout and brook trout when a second collection attempt was made in 1969. | ||
Stumptooth minnow | Stypodon signifer | Southern Coahuila, Mexico | Last collected in 1903. It was a mollusc-eating specialist, and molluscs were greatly affected by habitat modification and pollution caused by agriculture. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Longjaw cisco | Coregonus alpenae | Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Huron | Last collected in Lake Erie in 1957, in Lake Michigan in 1967, and in Lake Huron in 1975. Extinct due to overfishing, predation by the sea lamprey which colonized the lakes in the 1940s, and hybridization with other ciscoes. | ||
Deepwater cisco | Coregonus johannae | Lakes Michigan and Huron | Last collected in Lake Michigan in 1951, and in Lake Huron in 1952. Extinct due to overfishing, sea lamprey predation, and hybridization with other ciscoes. | ||
Lake Ontario kiyi | Coregonus kiyi orientalis | Lake Ontario | Last collected in 1964. Extinct due to overfishing, introduced fishes, and deterioration of water quality caused by eutrophication and chemical pollution. | ||
Blackfin cisco | Coregonus nigripinnis | Lakes Michigan and Huron | Last collected in 1923 in Lake Huron, and 1969 in Lake Michigan. Extinct due to overfishing, sea lamprey predation, and hybridization with other ciscoes. | ||
Yellowfin cutthroat trout | Oncorhynchus clarkii macdonaldi | Twin Lakes, Colorado | Extinct around 1910 as a result of competition and hybridization with introduced fishes. | ||
Alvord cutthroat trout | Oncorhynchus clarki ssp. | Alvord Basin in Oregon and Nevada | Only known from individuals hybridized with the rainbow trout, which was introduced to the area in the early 1930s. | ||
Silver trout | Salvelinus agassizi | Dublin Pond and Christine Lake, New Hampshire | Last recorded in Christine Lake in 1926 and in Dublin Pond in 1930. Extinct due to overfishing and several exotic fish introductions. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alberca silverside | Chirostoma bartoni | La Alberca caldera, Lerma River basin, Mexico | Not recorded after the crater lake dried during a drought in 2006.[96] | |
Least silverside | Chirostoma charari | La Mintzita spring, Michoacan, Mexico | Last recorded in 1957. Declined due to overuse of water resources, deforestation of gallery forests, pollution, hypereutophication, and hybridization with other Chirostoma species.[97] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Villa Lopez pupfish | Cyprinodon ceciliae | Bolsón de Sandía, Nuevo León, Mexico | Last recorded in 1988. The spring it was endemic dried completely in 1991 as a consequence of water extraction for agriculture use.[98] | ||
Cachorrito de la Trinidad | Cyprinodon inmemoriam | Ojo La Trinidad, northern Mexico | Only known from the holotype collected in 1984. The spring it was found in was destroyed by water extraction.[99] | ||
Tecopa pupfish | Cyprinodon nevadensis calidae | Tecopa Hot Springs, California | Last recorded before 1972.[100] | ||
Catarina pupfish | Megupsilon aporus | Potosí Spring, Nuevo León, Mexico | Last recorded in the wild in 1994, and in captivity in 2012. Extinct due to groundwater extraction and introduced fish species.[101] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Potosi pupfish | Cyprinodon alvarezi | Potosí Spring, Galeana, Nuevo León, Mexico | Last recorded in the wild in 1994. Declined due to near total habitat loss as a result of groundwater extraction, predation and competition with introduced species.[103] |
La Palma pupfish | Cyprinodon longidorsalis | Bolsón de Sandía, Nuevo León, Mexico | Last recorded in the wild in 1994, as a result of groundwater extraction.[104] |
Charco Palma pupfish | Cyprinodon veronicae | Disappeared from the wild in 1995 as a result of groundwater extraction, which caused in 1997 the complete drying of the spring it was endemic to.[105] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parras characodon | Characodon garmani | Southern Coahuila, Mexico | Known only from the holotype collected around the 1880s. Likely extinct due to habitat alteration.[106] | ||
Raycraft Ranch killifish | Empetrichthys latos concavus | Pahrump Valley, Nevada | Last collected in 1953. Likely extinct due to introduced carp and bullfrogs; after its probable extinction, the spring it was endemic to was filled to eliminate mosquitos. | ||
Pahrump Ranch poolfish | Empetrichthys latos pahrump | Nye County, Nevada | Last recorded in 1958. Likely extinct due to excessive water extraction, introduced carp and bullfrogs. | ||
Ash Meadows killifish | Empetrichthys merriami | Ash Meadows, Nevada | Last collected in 1948. Likely extinct due to habitat alteration and predation by introduced bullfrogs and crayfish. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banded allotoca | Allotoca goslinei | Jalisco, Mexico | Last recorded in the wild in 2004. Declined rapidly from 2000 after green swordtails were introduced in its last known location.[107] | ||
Golden skiffia | Skiffia francesae | Teuchitlan River and Laguna de Sayula, Jalisco, Mexico | Declined due to habitat degradation and exotic fish introductions. The last known wild population disappeared when the El Molino pond dried during a drought in 2010.[108] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amistad gambusia | Gambusia amistadensis | Goodenough Spring, Texas | Endemic to a spring flooded by a dam in 1969. In anticipation, several individuals were collected and kept in captivity, but all were found to be hybridized with mosquitofish after 1974. | |
San Marcos gambusia | Gambusia georgei | San Marcos River and spring, Texas | Last recorded in 1983. Extinct due to reduced spring flows, pollution, introduced fishes and ornamental plants, and hybridization with mosquitofish.[109] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monterrey platyfish | Xiphophorus couchianus | Atlantic slope of Mexico | Last collected in the wild in 1967. Declined due to habitat destruction, pollution, predation and competition with introduced species.[111] | ||
Marbled swordtail | Xiphophorus meyeri | Melchor Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico | Last recorded in the wild in 1997. Declined due to water abstraction for mining activities.[112] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maryland darter | Etheostoma sellare | Lower Susquehanna River, United States | Last confirmed record in 1986 and a possible one in 1988. Its range contracted after the damming of the Susquehanna; the last known location has degraded water quality caused by agriculture.[114] | ||
Blue walleye | Sander vitreus glaucus | Lakes Ontario and Erie, and Niagara River | Population began to fluctuate wildly in 1915 as a result of over-fishing before it collapsed in 1958. The final individuals may have hybridized with walleye. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cambarellus alvarezi | Potosí Spring, Nuevo León, Mexico | Endemic to a spring that was drained by pumping groundwater in 1994.[118] | ||
Sandhills crayfish | Procambarus angustatus | Sand Hills, Georgia | Only known from the holotype collected in around 1856.[119] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
White Spring cave crayfish | Cambarus veitchorum | White Spring Cave, Limestone County, Alabama | Last collected in 1968.[120] | |
Bigcheek cave crayfish | Procambarus delicatus | Ocala National Forest, Lake County, Florida | Last recorded in 1976. Declined due to disturbance and pollution caused by tourism.[121] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Valley grasshopper | Conozoa hyalina | Central Valley, California | Last recorded before 1953.[125] | ||
Rocky Mountain locust | Melanoplus spretus | Western and central Canada and United States | Last collected in 1902. Possibly extinct due to destruction of its riparian breeding habitat in the northern Rocky Mountains.[126] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
California condor louse | Colpocephalum californici | North America | Possibly extinct when the last California condors were taken into captivity and deloused in the mid-1980s. |
Second lice species of the California condor |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fort Ross weevil | Trigonoscuta rossi | Fort Ross, California | Last recorded in 1975. The cause of extinction is unknown.[128] | |
Yorba Linda weevil | Trigonoscuta yorbalindae | Yorba Linda desert dunes, California | Last recorded in 1975. Its habitat was destroyed by urbanization.[129] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Athens caddisfly | Triaenodes phalacris | United States[135] | ||
Three-toothed caddisfly | Triaenodes tridontus | United States | Last recorded in 1991.[136] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Olive marstonia | Marstonia olivacea | Big Spring Creek, Madison County, Alabama | Extinct in the 1960s due to impoundment in the Tennessee Valley.[139] | ||
Corded purg | Pyrgulopsis nevadensis | Nevada[140] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cahaba pebblesnail | Clappia cahabensis | Cahaba River, Alabama | Unconfirmed last record in 2005.[141] | ||
Umbilicate pebblesnail | Clappia umbilicata | Alabama[142] | |||
Oachita pebblesnail | Somatogyrus amnicoloides | Arkansas[143] | |||
Thick-lipped pebblesnail | Somatogyrus crassilabris | White River, Baxter County, Arkansas | Only known from the holotype collected in 1915.[144] | ||
Tennessee pebblesnail | Somatogyrus currierianus | Alabama[145] | |||
Channeled pebblesnail | Somatogyrus wheeleri | Arkansas[146] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shoal sprite | Amphigyra alabamensis | Alabama[149] | |||
Boulder snail | Athearnia crassa | Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia[150] | |||
Carinate flat-top snail | Neoplanorbis carinatus | United States[151] [152] | |||
Angled flat-top snail | Neoplanorbis smithi | ||||
Little flat-top snail | Neoplanorbis tantillus | Coosa River, Alabama | Extinct due to several impoundments between 1914 and 1967.[153] | ||
Umbilicate flat-top snail | Neoplanorbis umbilicatus | United States[154] | |||
Acorn ramshell | Planorbella multivolvis | Michigan[155] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Short-spired elimia | Elimia brevis | Alabama[156] | ||
Closed elimia | Elimia clausa | St. Clair County, Alabama[157] | ||
Fusiform elimia | Elimia fusiformis | Coosa River, Alabama[158] | ||
Shouldered elimia | Elimia gibbera | Alabama[159] | ||
High-spired elimia | Elimia hartmaniana | United States[160] | ||
Constricted elimia | Elimia impressa | Alabama[161] | ||
Hearty elimia | Elimia jonesi | Coosa River, Alabama[162] | ||
Ribbed elimia | Elimia laeta | Alabama[163] | ||
Wrinkled elimia | Elimia macglameriana | Alabama and Georgia[164] | ||
Pupa elimia | Elimia pupaeformis | Alabama[165] [166] | ||
Pygmy elimia | Elimia pygmaea | |||
Rough-lined elimia | Elimia pilsbryi | Coosa River, Alabama[167] | ||
Excised slitshell | Gyrotoma excisa | Last recorded in 1924.[168] [169] [170] [171] [172] | ||
Striate slitshell | Gyrotoma lewisii | |||
Pagoda slitshell | Gyrotoma pagoda | |||
Ribbed slitshell | Gyrotoma pumila | |||
Pyramid slitshell | Gyrotoma pyramidata | |||
Round slitshell | Gyrotoma walkeri | |||
Agate rocksnail | Leptoxis clipeata | Alabama[173] | ||
Maiden rocksnail | Leptoxis formosa | Alabama and Georgia[174] | ||
Rotund rocksnail | Leptoxis ligata | Alabama[175] [176] [177] | ||
Lyrate rocksnail | Leptoxis lirata | |||
Bigmouth rocksnail | Leptoxis occultata | |||
Coosa rocksnail | Leptoxis showalterii | United States[178] [179] [180] | ||
Squat rocksnail | Leptoxis torrefacta | |||
Striped rocksnail | Leptoxis vittata |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coosa elktoe | Alasmidonta mccordi | Coosa River, Alabama | Extinct in 1964 due to loss of all habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Carolina elktoe | Alasmidonta robusta | North and South Carolina[181] | Taxonomic status uncertain. | ||
Ochlockonee arcmussel | Alasmidonta wrightiana | Ochlockonee River, Florida | Extinct since the 1930s due to habitat fragmentation or degradation. | ||
Arc-form pearly mussel | Epioblasma arcaeformis | Cumberland and Tennessee River systems[182] | Extinct since the 1940s due to loss of all habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Angled riffleshell | Epioblasma biemarginata | Cumberland and Tennessee River systems[183] | Extinct in 1970 due to habitat destruction. | ||
Arcuate pearly mussel | Epioblasma flexuosa | Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio River systems[184] | Extinct in the 1920s or 1930s, due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Curtis pearly mussel | Epioblasma florentina curtisii | Little Black River, Missouri | Extinct in the 1990s due to habitat degradation. | ||
Yellow blossom | Epioblasma florentina florentina | Holston River, Tennessee | Extinct in the 1940s due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Acorn pearly mussel | Epioblasma haysiana | Cumberland and Tennessee River systems[185] | Extinct in 1970 due to habitat degradatation and fragmentation. | ||
Stone's pearly mussel | Epioblasma lenior | Tennessee River system | Extinct in 1967 due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization.[186] | ||
Lewis pearly mussel | Epioblasma lewisii | Cumberland and Tennessee River systems[187] | Extinct in 1950 due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Upland combshell | Epioblasma metastriata | Conasauga River, Georgia | Extinct in 1980s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. | ||
Southern acornshell | Epioblasma othcaloogensis | Conasauga River, Georgia | Extinct in the 1970s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. | ||
Fine-rayed pearly mussel | Epioblasma personata | Tennessee, Ohio, and Wabash River systems | Last collected in 1924.[188] Extinct in the 1920s or 1930s due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Nearby pearly mussel | Epioblasma propinqua | Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Wabash River systems[189] | Extinct in 1936 due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Sampson's pearly mussel | Epioblasma sampsonii | Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana[190] | Extinct in the 1930s or 1940s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. | ||
Steward's pearly mussel | Epioblasma stewardsonii | Tennessee and Coosa River systems[191] | Extinct in the 1940s due to loss of habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Green-blossom pearly mussel | Epioblasma torulosa gubernaculum | Tennessee River system | Last fresh shells collected in the 1980s.[192] | ||
Tubercled-blossom pearly mussel | Epioblasma torulosa torulosa | Tennessee and Ohio River systems[193] | Extinct in the 1970s due to loss of all habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Turgid-blossom pearly mussel | Epioblasma turgidula | Southern Appalachians and Cumberland Plateau[194] | Extinct in 1976 due to loss of all habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Lined pocketbook | Lampsilis binominata | Flint River, Georgia | Extinct in the 1970s due to habitat degradation. | ||
Highnut | Pleurobema altum | United States[195] | |||
Longnut | Pleurobema nucleopsis | United States[196] | |||
Alabama clubshell | Pleurobema troschelianum | Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia[197] | |||
True pigtoe | Pleurobema verum | Alabama[198] | |||
Black clubshell | Pleurobema curtum | East Fork Tombigbee River, Mississippi | Extinct in the 1990s due to habitat destruction and fragmentation. | ||
Flat pigtoe | Pleurobema marshalli | Tombigbee River, Mississippi and Alabama | Extinct in 1984 due to loss of all habitat through impoundment or channelization. | ||
Rio Grande monkeyface | Rotundaria couchiana | Rio Grande | Extinct in the early 1900s due to habitat degradation. | ||
Stirrup shell | Theliderma stapes | Sipsey River, Alabama | Extinct in the 1980s due to habitat fragmentation and destruction. |