This is a list of Australia-New Guinea species 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) [a] and continues to the present day. [1]
The Australian continent is also called Australia-New Guinea or Sahul to avoid confusion with the country of Australia. The continent includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and other nearby islands. Australia-New Guinea is divided between three countries: Australia (mainland Australia and Tasmania), Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea), and Indonesia (Western New Guinea and the Aru Islands). Extinct animals from the rest of Indonesia are covered in List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene. Species from the outlying islands of the country of Australia and the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea are included below. The Solomon Islands archipelago, split between Papua New Guinea (Autonomous Region of Bougainville) and the country of Solomon Islands, is covered in List of Oceanian species extinct in the Holocene.
The fauna of Australia-New Guinea is very unique. Marsupials and monotremes also existed on other continents, but only in Australia-New Guinea did they come to dominate. Aside from marine mammals, only two orders of placental mammals are native to Australia-New Guinea: rodents and bats. Dingoes and New Guinea singing dogs are considered feral dogs (Canis familiaris) introduced by humans. [2] The Christmas Island shrew is related to Asian shrews; no members of the order Eulipotyphla are native to Australia-New Guinea proper.
New Zealand species extinct in the Holocene are listed separately. The fauna of New Zealand is distinct from Australia-New Guinea. Birds, including numerous flightless birds, are the most important part of New Zealand's vertebrate fauna. Bats are New Zealand's only native land mammals. [3]
Numerous species have disappeared from Australia-New Guinea as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity. Most Australian megafauna disappeared in the Late Pleistocene, considerably earlier than in other continental landmasses. [4] As a result, Australian Holocene extinctions generally are of modest size. Most extinctions occurred after the European settlement of Australia, which began with the First Fleet in 1788 CE. [5] [6] However, the thylacine, Tasmanian devil, and Tasmanian nativehen were extirpated from mainland Australia thousands of years before European settlement, although they survived in Tasmania. [7] [8] [9] The Norfolk swamphen [10] and several New Guinea mammals also disappeared before European colonisation.
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Western long-beaked echidna | Zaglossus bruijnii | Western New Guinea, Indonesia and possibly Kimberley, Western Australia | This critically endangered species occurs in Western New Guinea, Indonesia. [11] The existence of Zaglossus in mainland Australia during the Late Pleistocene is proven by fossils and cave paintings. [12] A more recent presence in mainland Australia is disputed. A 2012 study reported the existence of a previously overlooked specimen in the Natural History Museum, London. The label notes it was collected by John T. Tunney from Mount Anderson in Kimberley, Western Australia in 1901. The study argues that the western long-beaked echidna survived as a rare species in Kimberley into the 20th century based on the circumstantial improbability of a collection label misassignment, the uniqueness of ectoparasites found on the specimen, the similarity of some Kimberley forests to known habitat in New Guinea, and the testimony of an Aboriginal elder. [12] A 2017 study disputes this conclusion and argues that the specimen most likely came from New Guinea and was mislabeled. [13] Additional research such as ancient DNA, stable isotopes, and trace elements may shed more light on this specimen, and targeted studies of relevant Kimberley Pleistocene and Holocene subfossil assemblages would be worthwhile. [12] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Thylacine | Thylacinus cynocephalus | Mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea | In Tasmania, the last confirmed wild individual was killed in 1931, [14] and the last in captivity died at Hobart Zoo in 1936. [15] Contrary to the consensus, a 2023 statistical analysis of alleged sightings suggested that thylacines survived in remote Tasmanian wilderness for decades past the 1930s. The peak likelihood for thylacine extinction was from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. [16] There is extensive evidence for thylacines in mainland Australia from paleontology and rock art. [17] The scientific consensus is that thylacines were extirpated from mainland Australia around 1277-1229 BCE, [7] although the Thylacine Museum records several alleged mainland sightings from the 19th and 20th centuries. [18] Thylacines were also present in New Guinea until 3050 BCE. [19] The extinction of the thylacine in mainland Australia was likely caused by competition with human hunters and dingos, while in Tasmania it was deliberately exterminated by sheep farmers. [15] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Tasmanian devil | Sarcophilus harrisii | Mainland Australia and Tasmania | Most recent subfossil remains in mainland Australia were dated to 1277-1229 BCE. The introduction of the dingo, changes and intensification of human hunting, and warming climate have been speculated as possible reasons. [7] The species survives in Tasmania and was reintroduced to New South Wales in 2020. [20] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Desert bandicoot | Perameles eremiana | Central Australia | Last known individual was collected in 1943, with unconfirmed sightings continuing until the 1960s. The extinction was caused by predation by introduced feral cats, red foxes, competition with European rabbits, and changes to the fire regime after the British colonization of Australia. [21] | ![]() |
New South Wales barred bandicoot | Perameles fasciata | New South Wales [22] | Reclassified as a distinct species in a 2018 study. [23] The last individual was collected in 1846. [22] | |
Southwestern barred bandicoot | Perameles myosuros | Western Australia [24] | Reclassified as a distinct species in a 2018 study. [23] The last individual was collected in 1906. [24] | ![]() |
Southern barred bandicoot | Perameles notina | South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales [25] | Reclassified as a distinct species in a 2018 study. [23] The last individual was collected in 1857. [25] | |
Nullarbor barred bandicoot | Perameles papillon | Nullarbor Plain, southern Australia | Described in a 2018 study. [23] The last individual was collected in 1928. [26] | |
Peroryctes aruensis | New Guinea | Most recent remains dated to 28000-9000 years ago. [19] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lesser bilby | Macrotis leucura | Deserts of Australia | Also known as yallara. The last individual was collected in 1931, though a skull of unknown age was retrieved from a wedge-tailed eagle's nest in 1967. The main causes of extinction are believed to be predation by cats and foxes, possibly exacerbated by changes to the fire regime. [27] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Southern pig-footed bandicoot | Chaeropus ecaudatus | Southern and western Australia [28] | The last reliably dated individual was collected in 1901, though Pintupi people recalled it surviving in the Gibson desert until the 1950s. The cause of extinction was predation by feral cats and foxes. [29] The two species were considered one until 2019. [28] | ![]() |
Northern pig-footed bandicoot | Chaeropus yirratji | Central Australia [28] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Telefomin cuscus | Phalanger matanim | Telefomin and Tifalmin, Papua New Guinea | Last recorded in 1997. The only area it was found in with certainty, was destroyed by fire during the 1998 El Niño event. [30] In 2022, British tourist Michael Smith found the Telefomin cuscus eaten by the locals, indicating that this species is still surviving in the wild. [31] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Kambuaya's triok | Dactylopsila kambuayai | New Guinea | Most recent remains dated to 5941-5596 BCE. [32] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Guinea greater glider | Petauroides ayamaruensis | New Guinea | Most recent remains dated to 5941-5596 BCE. [32] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
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Mainland banded hare-wallaby | Lagostrophus fasciatus albipilis [33] | Western Australia | Not considered to be a valid subspecies by some sources. [34] | ![]() |
Lake Mackay hare-wallaby | Lagorchestes asomatus | Between Mount Farewell and Lake Mackay, Northern Territory; possibly Great Sandy, Gibson, and Tanami Deserts | Also known as kuluwarri. The only known specimen was collected in 1932. Western Aboriginal Australians stated that it disappeared between 1940 and 1960. It was possibly driven to extinction by predation by feral cats and foxes, and changes to the fire regime. [35] | |
South-western rufous hare-wallaby | Lagorchestes hirsutus hirsutus | South-west of Western Australia [36] | The south-western subspecies (L. h. hirsutus) is extinct. Two other subspecies survive: L. h. bernieri and L. h. 'central Australian subspecies'. [36] | ![]() |
Eastern hare-wallaby | Lagorchestes leporides | Interior southeastern Australia | Last specimen was collected in 1889. [37] The species was possibly driven to extinction by habitat loss caused by livestock grazing and increased summer wildfires after the end of native controlled fires in the winter. [38] | ![]() |
Toolache wallaby | Notamacropus greyi | Southeastern Australia | The last confirmed records in the wild happened in 1924. Unconfirmed sightings happened in 1943 and 1950s-1970s, but extensive searching in the 1970s failed to locate any. [39] The last captive animal died in 1939. [40] | ![]() |
Crescent nailtail wallaby | Onychogalea lunata | Western and central Australia | Last recorded individual was killed in 1956. [41] Extinction caused by predation by feral cats and foxes, and human-induced habitat degradation. [42] | ![]() |
Christensen's pademelon | Thylogale christenseni | New Guinea | Most recent remains dated to 1738-1385 BCE. [32] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Desert bettong | Bettongia anhydra | Tanami Desert and Nullarbor Plain | Only known from one specimen collected in the Tanami in 1933 and subfossil material from the Nullarbor. The causes of extinction are presumed to be predation by feral cats and foxes, and changes to the fire regime. [43] | |
South-eastern woylie | Bettongia penicillata penicillata | South-eastern Australia [44] | The woylie experienced a large reduction in population size and range due to extensive land clearing and the introduction of feral cats and red foxes. The south-eastern subspecies (B. p. penicillata) is considered extinct. The surviving south-western subspecies (B. p. ogilbyi) is critically endangered. [44] | ![]() |
Nullarbor dwarf bettong | Bettongia pusilla | Nullarbor Plain, Hampton and Mallee bioregions | Known only from subfossil remains but considered to have survived until European settlement. [45] | |
Desert rat-kangaroo | Caloprymnus campestris | Channel Country and possibly southeastern Queensland | Last confirmed record in 1935 near Ooroowilanie, east of Lake Eyre, though several unconfirmed sightings were recorded in South Australia and Queensland between 1957 and 2011. It is considered to have become extinct due to predation by feral cats and foxes, though habitat degradation by herbivores could have contributed. [46] | ![]() |
Broad-faced potoroo | Potorous platyops | From the Swan Coastal Plain to the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, and Kangaroo Island | Last recorded in 1875. Presumed to have become extinct due to predation by feral cats, exotic diseases, inappropriate fire regimes, habitat loss and degradation due to grazing livestock. [47] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
White-footed rabbit rat | Conilurus albipes | South-eastern South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and eastern Queensland | Last recorded 1860-1862 in Victoria, where it was at one time common and even regarded as a pest, though a possible observational record was made near Deniliquin, New South Wales, in the early 1940s. It probably disappeared due to predation by cats, though human-induced habitat degradation could have contributed. [48] | ![]() |
Capricorn rabbit rat | Conilurus capricornensis | Queensland | Known only from subfossil remains but considered to have survived until European settlement. Since there has not been a targeted survey for the Capricorn rabbit rat, there is a thin hope of its survival, although this is unlikely. [49] | |
Lesser stick-nest rat | Leporillus apicalis | Arid and semiarid central Australia | The last two specimens were collected south of the Musgrave Ranges in 1933, and the last unconfirmed sighting happened in 1970 in a cave along Canning Stock Route. Considered to have become extinct due to predation by feral cats, possibly helped by habitat degradation caused by introduced grazers. [50] | ![]() |
Bramble Cay melomys | Melomys rubicola | Bramble Cay, Queensland | Last recorded in 2009. Disappeared due to increasing storms that depleted the island of vegetation. [51] Its extinction was described as the first extinction of a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change. [52] | ![]() |
Short-tailed hopping mouse | Notomys amplus | From north-eastern South Australia and south-eastern Northern Territory to North West Cape | The only known specimens came from Charlotte Waters, Northern Territory in 1896. Subfossils indicate that it had a wide distribution in the central and western arid zone. Reasons for extinction are unknown, but could have been predation by feral cats and foxes. [53] | |
Long-tailed hopping-mouse | Notomys longicaudatus | From north-western New South Wales to North West Cape | Last collected in Barrow Creek, Northern Territory in 1901-1902. Extinction attributed to predation by feral cats. [54] | ![]() |
Big-eared hopping-mouse | Notomys macrotis | Western central wheatbelt of Western Australia | Last collected in 1843 near New Norcia. Considered to have been driven to extinction primarily by epizootic disease or predation by feral cats, with habitat degradation by sheep grazing as secondary factor. [55] | |
Darling Downs hopping mouse | Notomys mordax | Darling Downs, Queensland | Known from a single skull purchased in 1846. Considered extinct because of predation by feral cats, with habitat destruction by agriculture and livestock farming as possible contributors. [56] | |
Great hopping mouse | Notomys robustus | Davenport and Flinders Ranges, South Australia | Known only from skulls taken in old owl roosts. [57] | |
Blue-gray mouse | Pseudomys glaucus | South-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales | Last collected with certainty before 1892. Extinction considered to have been due to habitat clearance, predation by feral cats and possibly red foxes. [58] | |
Maclear's rat | Rattus macleari | Christmas Island | Last collected in 1901-1902. Became extinct after being infected by trypanosome carried by fleas hosted by black rats, which were accidentally introduced by the SS Hindustan in 1900. [59] [60] | ![]() |
Bulldog rat | Rattus nativitatis | Christmas Island | Last recorded in 1897-1898. Became extinct after being infected by trypanosome carried by fleas hosted by black rats introduced in 1900. It was rarer than R. macleari and disappeared first. [60] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Ireland forest rat | Rattus sanila | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Most recent remains dated to 347-535 CE. [32] |
Emma's giant rat | Uromys emmae | Owi Island, Papua, Indonesia | Last seen in 1946. [61] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island shrew | Crocidura trichura | Christmas Island | Last seen in 1985. The reasons for its decline are unknown. [62] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Percy Island flying fox | Pteropus brunneus | Percy Islands, Queensland | Known from a single specimen collected in 1874, though bats were reported as plentiful in the islands at the end of the 19th century. Possibly disappeared because of habitat loss. [63] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aru flying fox | Pteropus aruensis | Aru Islands, Indonesia | Described in the mid-19th century. No sightings were made in the 20th century, but a jawbone found in a kitchen midden in 1992 probably belongs to this species. [64] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island pipistrelle | Pipistrellus murrayi | Christmas Island | Last recorded in 2009 following a 90% decline in three generations (10–15 years). The reasons are unclear, though predation and competition by introduced species, and exotic diseases have been suggested. [65] |
Lord Howe long-eared bat | Nyctophilus howensis | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Known from a single skull found in 1972 and believed to be between 50 and 100 years old. The reasons of extinction are unclear but could have been predated on by introduced rats and owls. [66] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kangaroo Island emu | Dromaius novaehollandiae baudinianus | Kangaroo Island | Last recorded in 1819. One egg found in 1830 could have been laid by an Australian emu introduced in 1826, or a hybrid. It was hunted to extinction. [10] | ![]() |
King Island emu | Dromaius novaehollandiae minor | King Island, Tasmania | Last recorded in the wild in 1805; the last in captivity died in 1822. It was hunted to extinction. [10] | ![]() |
Tasmanian emu | Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis | Tasmania | Last recorded in 1851. Captive animals reported until the 1870s may have been actually imported from Australia. It was hunted to extinction. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Ireland scrubfowl, large Bismarck's megapode | Megapodius sp. | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dusky megapode | Megapodius freycinet | From the Maluku Islands to Tonga [10] | Remains were found in archaeological assemblages of Nombe, in the New Guinea Highlands, which has been inhabited from 30,000 years ago to today. [67] It lived in Tikopia, Solomon Islands until the Lapita period, [68] and survives in the Indonesian Raja Ampat Islands, [69] northwest of New Guinea, but connected to Sahul during the Last Glacial Period. | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Macquarie Islands teal | Anas cf. chlorotis | Macquarie Island, Tasmania | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe pigeon | Columba vitiensis godmanae | Lord Howe Island | Hunted to extinction in 1853. [10] | ![]() |
Norfolk pigeon | Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea | Norfolk Island | Last recorded in 1900. It was hunted to extinction. [70] | ![]() |
Norfolk ground dove | Pampusana norfolkensis | Norfolk and possibly Nepean Island | Known from a 1788-1790 painting and descriptions. No remains survive, though bones found in the islands may belong to this species. [71] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Ireland rail | Hypotaenidia ernstmayri | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Known from fragmentary subfossil remains. [10] | |
Macquarie Island banded rail | Hypotaenidia philippensis macquarensis | South Macquarie Island, Tasmania | Last recorded in 1879. Driven to extinction by hunting and predation by introduced feral cats, mongooses, pigs, and dogs. [10] | |
Norfolk Island rail | Hypotaenidia sp. | Norfolk Island | Possibly depicted in a 1788 painting. It was hunted to extinction. [10] | |
Western Lewin's rail | Lewinia pectoralis clelandi | Southwestern Australia | Last recorded in 1932. Extinct because of drainage and burning of wetlands for agriculture and settlement. [10] | |
White swamphen | Porphyrio albus | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Last recorded with certainty in 1790. It was hunted by whalers and sailors, and was extinct by the time the island was colonized in 1834. [72] | ![]() |
Giant swamphen | Porphyrio sp. | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric | |
New Ireland swamphen | Porphyrio sp. | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric | |
Norfolk swamphen | Porphyrio sp. | Norfolk Island | Known from remains in Polynesian middens. It was extinct by the time of European colonisation in 1788. [10] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tasmanian nativehen | Tribonyx mortierii | Mainland Australia and Tasmania | This flightless bird is widespread in Tasmania, having benefited from European-style agriculture. [73] Fossil records indicate that it was found on the Australian mainland until around 4700 years ago. Suggested reasons for its extirpation have included human overhunting, the introduction of the dingo, [8] or an extremely dry period. [9] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Norfolk snipe | Coenocorypha sp. | Norfolk Island | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Pterodroma sp. | Norfolk Island | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Serventys' cormorant | Microcarbo serventyorum | Bullsbrook, Western Australia | Known from a subfossil pelvis and associated proximal femora and caudal vertebrae. [74] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Accipiter sp. 1 | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric. One of the two New Ireland species may be the extant Meyer's goshawk. | |
Accipiter sp. 2 | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric. One of the two New Ireland species may be the extant Meyer's goshawk. |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe boobook | Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Probably disappeared in the 1940s or 1950s due to deforestation, predation by introduced black rats, and predation or competition with southern boobooks, [[[Barn-owl|barn owl]]s, and masked owls (all introduced in unsuccessful attempts to control the invasive rat population). [10] | |
Norfolk boobook | Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata | Norfolk Island | Last individual died in 1996. Declined due to deforestation leading to increased competition for nest-hollows with honeybees and crimson rosellas. Descendants hybridized with the New Zealand subspecies N. n. novaeseelandiae survive in the island. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Mussau barn owl | Tyto cf. novaehollandiae | Mussau Island, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Greater New Ireland barn owl | Tyto cf. novaehollandiae | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Lesser New Ireland barn owl | Tyto cf. alba / aurantia | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Norfolk kākā | Nestor productus | Norfolk Island | Last birds in the wild were sighted between 1825 and 1854, and the last in captivity died in London in 1851. Disappeared because of hunting [75] and habitat destruction by introduced rabbits, pigs, and goats. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Ireland cockatoo | Cacatua sp. | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe parakeet | Cyanoramphus subflavescens | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Last seen in 1869. Exterminated by farmers because it predated on gardens and crops. [10] | ![]() |
Macquarie parakeet | Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae erythrotis | Macquarie Island, Tasmania | Last seen in 1890. Probably driven to extinction by introduced weka and rabbits. [10] | |
Paradise parrot | Psephotellus pulcherrimus | Southeastern Queensland and possibly New South Wales | Last confirmed observation in 1927 or 1928; it was considered extinct after a drought in 1902 but was rediscovered in 1918. Unconfirmed observations were made in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1990. Extinction factors include reduction of food supply due to drought and overgrazing, deforestation, altered fire regimes, spread of invasive prickly pears in Australia, disease, hunting and nest raiding. [76] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dirk Hartog thick-billed grasswren | Amytornis textilis carteri | Dirk Hartog Island, Western Australia | Last recorded in 1918. Disappeared due to predation by introduced black rats. [10] | ![]() |
Namoi Valley thick-billed grasswren | Amytornis textilis inexpectatus | Central New South Wales | Last recorded in 1912. Reasons of extinction unknown. [10] | |
Southwestern thick-billed grasswren | Amytornis textilis macrourus | Southwestern Australia | Last recorded in 1910. Extinct due to drought and overgrazing by introduced mammals. [10] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Western rufous bristlebird | Dasyornis broadbenti litoralis | Southwestern Australia | Last recorded around 1930. Disappeared due to the burning of shrublands for pasture and predation by feral cats. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe gerygone | Gerygone insularis | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Last recorded in 1928. Presumed to have become extinct due to nest raiding by black rats, but disease from introduced passerines could also have been a factor. [77] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Norfolk triller | Lalage leucopyga leucopyga | Norfolk Island | Last recorded in 1942. Probably driven to extinction by invasive black rats and deforestation.[ citation needed ] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe fantail | Rhipidura fuliginosa cervina | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Last recorded in 1924. Probably disappeared due to predation by introduced black rats. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Ireland crow | Corvus sp. | New Ireland, Bismarck Archipelago | Prehistoric |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Roper River scrub robin | Drymodes superciliaris colcloughi | Northern Territory | Last recorded in 1910. This subspecies may be invalid. It is known from only two specimens of doubtful provenance. [78] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robust white-eye | Zosterops strenuus | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Extinction believed to be a result of predation by black rats that escaped the wreck of the SS Makambo in 1918, as it was not found in searches carried out in 1928 and 1936. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
White-chested white-eye | Zosterops albogularis | Norfolk Island | Last confirmed sighting in 2000, followed by an unconfirmed one in 2005. The species declined due to competition with the silvereye Zosterops lateralis, which was introduced in 1904; the accidental introduction of black rats in the mid-1940s, and the clearance of forests. [10] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
New Britain thicketbird | Cincloramphus grosvenori | New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago | Known only from two individuals collected, and another two seen shortly after, in 1958. [10] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Norfolk thrush | Turdus poliocephalus poliocephalus | Norfolk Island | The subspecies became extinct around the late 1970s, with the last confirmed record in 1975. The cause of its extinction is attributed to a combination of clearing of native vegetation and predation by rats and feral cats. Additional factors were competition with introduced song thrushes and common blackbirds, as well as interbreeding with the latter species producing sterile offspring.[ citation needed ] | ![]() |
Lord Howe thrush | Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Not recorded since c. 1924. Believed to be a result of the introduction of black rats following the grounding of the SS Makambo in June 1918.[ citation needed ] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Norfolk Island starling | Aplonis fusca fusca | Norfolk Island | Last recorded in 1923, although its absence was not noted until 1968. It may have disappeared due to habitat destruction, or predation by black rats if it survived until 1940, when they were introduced to the island. As the last surviving subspecies, its extinction was also that of the species. [79] | ![]() |
Lord Howe starling | Aplonis fusca hulliana | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | Last seen in 1918. Probably disappeared due to predation by black rats, which were introduced to the island in that year. [79] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island chained gecko | Lepidodactylus listeri | Christmas Island | Last recorded in the wild in 2012, probably as a result of predation by introduced Indian wolf snakes. [80] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island forest skink | Emoia nativitatis | Christmas Island | Last seen in the wild in 2010. An attempted captivity breeding program in 2009 failed because only females could be captured, and the last captive animal died in 2014. Became extinct due to predation by introduced Indian wolf snakes, possibly hastened by deforestation. [81] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Christmas Island blue-tailed skink | Cryptoblepharus egeriae | Christmas Island | Last seen in the wild in 2010, likely as a result of predation by introduced Indian wolf snakes. [82] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Southern gastric-brooding frog | Rheobatrachus silus | Conondale and Blackall Ranges, Queensland | Last captured from the wild in 1981, the last captive specimen died in 1983. Reasons for extinction unknown, but chytridiomycosis is suspected. [83] | ![]() |
Northern gastric-brooding frog | Rheobatrachus vitellinus | Eungella National Park, Queensland | Last recorded in 1985. Reasons for extinction unknown, but chytridiomycosis is suspected. [84] | |
Sharp snouted day frog | Taudactylus acutirostris | Coastal north Queensland from Mount Graham to the Big Tableland [85] | Last seen in 1997, apparently exterminated by chytridiomycosis. [85] | |
Mount Glorious day frog | Taudactylus diurnus | Blackall, Conondale, and D'Aguilar Ranges in southeast Queensland | Last recorded in 1979. Reasons of extinction unknown, but chytridiomycosis is suspected. [86] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Mountain mist frog | Ranoidea nyakalensis | Wet Tropics of Queensland [87] | Last recorded in 1990, declared extinct in 2022. Rapidly declined, likely due to chytridiomycosis. [87] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Peppered tree frog | Ranoidea piperata | A very small area of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales | This species was last seen in 1973. It is classified as data deficient because there is substantial uncertainty regarding its taxonomic status. Either the type series represents unusually coloured individuals of Pearson's green tree frog or it is a distinct species that is now most likely extinct. [88] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Smooth handfish | Sympterichthys unipennis | Southeastern Tasmania | Last recorded in 1802. Possibly disappeared due to habitat destruction and accidental capture at scallop and oyster fisheries. [89] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pedder galaxias | Galaxias pedderensis | Lake Pedder, Tasmania | Initially, the species expanded its range after the area was inundated for hydroelectric power generation in 1972. Introduced trout were a significant factor in the decline of this species. It was scarce by 1980, and the last wild specimen was captured in 1996. The species survives in two translocated populations outside its original range, one at Lake Oberon in the Western Arthurs mountain range and one at a modified water supply dam near Strathgordon. [90] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range |
---|---|
Rhantus papuanus | Papua New Guinea [91] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Xenopsylla nesiotes | Christmas Island | Parasite of Maclear's rat. [92] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Titanolichus seemani | Southeastern Australia | Known only from the holotype collected from a museum specimen of critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. [32] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Coloceras hemiphagae | Norfolk Island | Parasites of the Norfolk Island pigeon, co-extinct with their host. [93] |
Coloceras restinctus |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Ixodes nitens | Christmas Island | Parasite of Maclear's rat. [92] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Lord Howe flax snail (subspecies) | Placostylus bivaricosus etheridgei [94] | Lord Howe Island, New South Wales | A type of land snail. |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Tornelasmias capricorni | Blackburn Island | Possibly exterminated by black rats that swam from nearby Lord Howe Island. [95] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lake Pedder earthworm | Hypolimnus pedderensis | Lake Pedder, Tasmania | Known only from one specimen collected in 1971. The area was inundated for hydroelectric power generation in 1972. [96] | ![]() |
Plants and animals are listed as extinct and the federal level under the auspices of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Act lists all plants considered to have become extinct since the commencement of European settlement of Australia in 1788. There are 37 species currently listed as extinct under the Act. [97]
Of note, the species Pimelea spinescens subsp. pubiflora was presumed extinct after 1901, but a population was discovered in 2005. [98] The orchid Diuris bracteata was also considered extinct after its first collection in 1899, but it was thought to have been rediscovered in 1998. The later collections are now considered to be Diuris platichila . [99] [100] The spiny everlasting ( Acanthocladium dockeri ) was reclassified as critically endangered in 2006 after it was rediscovered in 1999. [101] Bennett's Seaweed, declared extinct under the EPBC Act in 1999; was the first protist listed as extinct by the IUCN in 2004. [102]
Each state and territory of Australia has legislation to record the extinction of plants and animals; organisms listed as extinct at the state level may differ from those listed under the EPBC Act.
Threatened species are listed under the Nature Conservation Act 2014 in the Australian Capital Territory.
There are 35 taxa "presumed extinct" as specified in Part 4 of Schedule 1 of the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 . [103] Species presumed extinct in New South Wales, but not listed under the EPBC Act include:
Rhaphidospora bonneyana , Glinus orygioides , Ptilotus extenuatus , Acanthocladium dockeri (listed by EPBC as extinct in SA, but not NSW), Blumea lacera , Senecio behrianus , Stemmacantha australis , Lepidium foliosum , Stenopetalum velutinum , Atriplex acutiloba , Maireana lanosa , Osteocarpum pentapterum , Hypolepis elegans , Codonocarpus pyramidalis , Haloragis stricta , Myriophyllum implicatum , Caladenia rosella , Thelymitra epipactoides , Comesperma scoparium , Grevillea nematophylla , Persoonia laxa , Pomaderris oraria , Aphanes pentamera , Knoxia sumatrensis , Micromelum minutum , Philotheca angustifolia , Dodonaea stenophylla , Tetratheca pilosa subsp. pilosa .
Although listed as extinct under the EPBC Act, Diurus bracteata is listed as endangered in New South Wales.
Threatened species is the Northern Territory are listed under IUCN criteria by the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts. [104] As of 2006 there are no recorded plant extinctions in the Northern Territory. [105]
Threatened species are listed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 in South Australia. 26 plant taxa are presumed extinct in South Australia, 2 of these are listed under the EPBC Act [106] [107]
Threatened species are listed under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 in Queensland, under this act some species are described as "presumed extinct". There are currently 27 species described as presumed extinct in Queensland, [108] those not listed under the EPBC Act include:
Acianthus ledwardii , Amphineuron immersum , Antrophyum austroqueenslandicum , Corchorus thozetii , Dimocarpus leichhardtii , Lindsaea pulchella var. blanda , Oldenlandia tenelliflora var. papuana , Rhaphidospora cavernarum , Tapeinosperma flueckigeri , Teucrium ajugaceum , Trichomanes exiguum , Wendlandia psychotrioides , Zieria sp. (Russell River S.Johnson in 1892).
It was reported [109] on 12 April 2008 that two of the plants, Rhaphidospora cavernarum and Teucrium ajugaceum have been rediscovered on Cape York between Cooktown and Lockhart River, and are now re-classified as "vulnerable".
There are 20 taxa classified as "presumed extinct" under schedule 3.2 of the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 . Only three of these species are listed as extinct under the EPBC Act. [110] The additional species listed as extinct under Tasmanian legislation are:
Ballantinia antipoda , Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia , Botrychium australe , Caladenia cardiochila , Chenopodium erosum , Coopernookia barbata , Hibbertia obtusifolia , Lepilaena australis , Levenhookia dubia , Myriophyllum glomeratum , Podotheca angustifolia , Prostanthera cuneata , Punctelia subflava , Senecio macrocarpus , Thesium australe , Thynninorchis huntiana and Veronica notabilis .
Threatened species in Victoria are identified under the auspices of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988) ; the act does not specify species presumed extinct. The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment maintain a list of species presumed extinct in Victoria; [111] they list 51 extinct taxa, those not listed under the EPBC Act include:
Acacia argyrophylla , Acacia havilandiorum , Acrotriche depressa , Actinotus bellidioides , Asplenium polyodon , Atriplex billardierei , Austrostipa tuckeri , Caladenia carnea var. subulata, Caladenia magnifica , Caladenia thysanochila , Calotis pubescens , Cardamine gunnii s.s., Centipeda pleiocephala , Cheiranthera alternifolia , Chionogentias gunniana , Convolvulus microsepalus , Cuscuta victoriana , Cyperus vaginatus , Digitaria diffusa , Dodonaea heteromorpha , Epilobium willisii , Euphrasia collina subsp. speciosa, Hibbertia incana s.s., Hypolepis elegans subsp. elegans, Leiocarpa tomentosa , Leionema microphyllum , Lemooria burkittii , Leptorhynchos scaber s.s., Phyllangium sulcatum , Picris barbarorum , Podolepis arachnoidea , Pomaderris obcordata , Prasophyllum colemaniae , Prasophyllum morganii , Prasophyllum sp. aff. odoratum , Prasophyllum suttonii s.s., Pterostylis sp. aff. biseta (Lara), Rutidosis helichrysoides , Senecio murrayanus , Senna form taxon ' artemisioides ', Stemmacantha australis , Stenanthemum notiale subsp. notiale, Trema tomentosa var. viridis, Braithwaitea sulcata .
There are 14 taxa classified as "X: Declared Rare Flora - Presumed Extinct Taxa" under the Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List, all of which have been gazetted as presumed extinct flora in Western Australia under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 . [112] [113] This list coincides with the federal EPBC Act list, except that it includes Leptomeria dielsiana , Ptilotus caespitulosus and Taraxacum cygnorum ; and excludes Frankenia conferta (Silky Frankenia) and Calothamnus accedens . [97]
The eastern hare-wallaby, once also known as the common hare wallaby, is an extinct species of wallaby that was native to southeastern Australia. It was first described by John Gould in 1841.
The short-tailed hopping mouse is an extinct species of mouse from open stony (gibber) plains with desert grasses, low shrubs and sand ridges in the area around Charlotte Waters, near Alice Springs in Central Australia. It weighed 80 grams. The last record is from June 1896. Only two complete specimens were collected, probably from Aboriginal Australians. It was among the largest of all Australian hopping mice recorded in Australia; it was twice as heavy as any living species of hopping mice, although fossils suggest the extinct great hopping mouse may have been a similar size. The short-tailed hopping mouse was predominantly brown in colour, its tail probably being as long as its body. This species' decline was due to a number of factors, some of which were being hunted by predators such as foxes, cats and habitat alterations.
Godman's rock-wallaby is a diprotodont marsupial, and a typical rock-wallaby. It is found in northern and north-eastern Queensland, Australia. This rock-wallaby is found in low open forest, open scrub, or montane regions, often near the coast. It shelters in rocky terrain adjacent to feeding areas. Godman's rock-wallaby is a nocturnal gregarious territorial folivore.
Functional extinction is the extinction of a species or other taxon such that:
The Western barred bandicoot, also known as the Shark Bay bandicoot or the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuaries on the mainland.
This article is a list of biological species, subspecies, and evolutionary significant units that are known to have become extinct during the Holocene, the current geologic epoch, ordered by their known or approximate date of disappearance from oldest to most recent.
The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetated coral cay with a habitable area of approximately 5 acres (2.0 ha) located at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Described by researchers as having last been seen in 2009 and declared extinct by the Queensland Government and University of Queensland researchers in 2016, it was formally declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in May 2015 and the Australian government in February 2019. Having been the only mammal endemic to the reef, its extinction was described as the first extinction of a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change.
The Arnhem Land rock rat also known as the Arnhem rock-rat and by the Indigenous Australian name of kodjperr is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Top End Region of the Northern Territory in Australia.
The Capricorn rabbit rat is an extinct species of rodent from Queensland, Australia. It was described as a new species in 2010 on the basis of Pleistocene and Holocene dental remains. The specific name refers to the Capricorn Caves in Queensland, one of the locations where remains were unearthed. Some of the subfossil material post-dates the European settlement of Australia, so the Capricorn rabbit rat is a modern extinction. Since there has not been a targeted survey for the Capricorn rabbit rat, there is a thin hope of its survival, although this is unlikely.
[The British] moved north to Port Jackson on 26 January 1788, landing at Camp Cove, known as 'cadi' to the Cadigal people. Governor Phillip carried instructions to establish the first British Colony in Australia. The First Fleet was underprepared for the task, and the soil around Sydney Cove was poor.
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