This is a list of South 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) [A] and continues to the present day. [1]
The list includes animal extinctions in the Falklands and other islands near the continent but not the Galápagos Islands, which has its own list of extinct animals. Extinct animals from the West Indies are covered in List of Antillian and Bermudan animals extinct in the Holocene. Extinctions from Easter Island, a territory of Chile in Polynesia, are covered in the List of Oceanian species extinct in the Holocene.
Many extinction dates are unknown due to a lack of relevant information.
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Red-bellied gracile opossum | Cryptonanus ignitus | Jujuy, Argentina | Last collected in 1962. The only known locality was destroyed by agriculture and urban development. [2] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
One-striped opossum | Monodelphis unistriata | Southeastern Brazil and northeastern Argentina | Only collected twice, in 1821 in Brazil and 1899 in Argentina. The causes of decline are unknown, but possibly related to habitat loss through logging and agriculture. [3] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Propraopus sulcatus | Eastern South America | Most recent remains at Toca do Serrote do Artur, Brazil dated to 6660-4880 BCE. [4] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Doedicurus clavicaudatus | South American pampas | Most recent remains at Arroyo Seco, Argentina dated to 4765-4445 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Eutatus seguini | Northern Argentina and Uruguay | Most recent remains at Arroyo Seco, Argentina dated to 6389-6060 BCE. [5] | |
Glyptodon clavipes | Eastern Brazil to the Argentinian pampa [6] | Most recent remains at Toca do Serrote do Artur, Brazil dated to 6660-4880 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Glyptodon reticulatus | Southern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Upper Ribeira Valley, southeastern Sao Paulo, Brazil but without direct datation. [7] | ![]() |
Glyptotherium cylindricum | Florida and Texas to northeastern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Serra do Ramalho, Brazil but without direct datation. [8] | ![]() |
Hoplophorus euphractus | Eastern Brazil | Most recent remains at Toca do Serrote do Artur, Brazil dated to 6660-4880 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Neosclerocalyptus paskoensis [9] | Southern South America | Most recent remains in Paraguay dated to 5120 BCE. [10] | ![]() |
Neuryurus sp. | Eastern Argentina and Uruguay | Most recent remains at Lobería, Argentina dated to c. 19050-8050 BCE. [11] | |
Panochthus tuberculatus | Argentina to southern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Luján, Argentina but without direct datation. [12] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Pachyarmatherium brasiliense | Eastern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Serra do Ramalho, Brazil but without direct datation. [8] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Holmesina majus | Minas Gerais and Ceará, Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Serra do Ramalho, Brazil but without direct datation. [8] | |
Pampatherium sp. | Mexico, Central and South America | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Ahytherium aureum | Eastern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Upper Ribeira Valley, southeastern Sao Paulo, Brazil but without direct datation. [7] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Eremotherium laurillardi | Southern United States to Brazil | Most recent remains in the Miranda River basin, Brazil dated to 5477-4170 BCE. [13] | ![]() |
Megatherium americanum | Temperate South America and the Andes | Most recent remains at Campo Laborde, Argentina were dated to 5270-4310 BCE and show signs of human hunting and processing. [14] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Glossotherium robustum | South America | Most recent remains at El Cautivo, Ecuador dated to 6810-6650 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Lestodon armatus | Southern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Upper Ribeira Valley, southeastern Sao Paulo, Brazil but without direct datation. [7] | ![]() |
Mylodon darwini | Pampas and Patagonia | Most recent remains at Cueva del Milodón, Chile dated to 10935-8804 BCE. [15] | ![]() |
Scelidodon chiliensis | Western South America | Most recent remains at Pampa de los Fósiles, Peru, dated to 7160-6760 BCE. [4] | |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Catonyx cuvieri | Eastern South America | Most recent remains at Lagoa Santa, Brazil dated to 7830-7430 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Scelidotherium leptocephalum | Southern South America | Most recent remains at Río Cuarto, Argentina dated to 5660-5540 BCE. [16] | ![]() |
Valgipes bucklandi | Intertropical region of Brazil [8] | Most recent remains at Lagoa Santa, Brazil dated to 9110-9030 BCE. [17] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Nothrotherium maquinense | Eastern Brazil | Found in the late Pleistocene to early Holocene of Serra do Ramalho, Brazil but without direct datation. [8] | |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cuvier's gomphothere [18] | Cuvieronius hyodon | Central America to northern and central Andes | Most recent remains at Quebrada Quereo, Chile dated to 7450-6850 BCE; however this date is not calibrated and the remains could be older. [19] | ![]() |
Notiomastodon platensis | South America | Most recently dated at El Totumo, Colombia, to 4170-4050 BCE; however this date is uncalibrated and the remains are assigned to the Late Glacial. Other remains from Toro, Valle del Cauca are assigned to the Holocene but with no direct date. [20] Calibrated remains at Itapipoca, Brazil were dated to 8209-5886 BCE, [13] and at El Cautivo, Ecuador to 6810-6650 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Galea tixiensis | Río de la Plata basin to southern Bolivia | Most recent remains at the Tandilia mountains, Argentina dated to around 950 CE. [21] | ||
Giant capybara [22] | Neochoerus sp. | Southern United States to Brazil | Found in sites of Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Rondonia, Brazil that date from the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene, but without exact dating. [8] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Ctenomys viarapaensis | Pampa de Achala, Argentina | Most recent remains at Quebrada del Real 1 dated to 5410 BCE - 1590 CE. [23] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Clyomys riograndensis | Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Most recent remains dated to 1750 BCE. [24] |
Dicolpomys fossor | Río de la Plata basin and southern Brazil | Most recent remains at Sambaquí de Puerto Landa, Argentina dated to 894-953 CE. [25] |
Proclinodontomys mordax | Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Most recent remains dated to 5250 BCE. [24] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Octomys sp. | Western Argentina | Most recent remains at Vaquerías Gruta 1, Argentina dated to 1150 BCE - 1570 CE. Related to the Mountain viscacha rat but different enough to be a new species. [26] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bibimys massoiai | Piauí, Brazil | Most recent remains at Toca do Serrote do Artur dated to 6943-3656 BCE. [27] | ||
Candango mouse | Juscelinomys candango | Brasília, Brazil | Last collected in 1960. Presumed extinct when the area was urbanized. [28] | ![]() |
Vespucci's giant rat | Noronhomys vespuccii | Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil | Only recorded alive by Amerigo Vespucci in 1503; otherwise known from subfossil remains. [29] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brucepattersonius talpinus | Lagoa Santa, Brazil | Known from Quaternary fossils. [27] | ||
Fossorial giant rat | Gyldenstolpia fronto | Chaco Basin to southeastern Brazil | Known from the holotype collected in the Argentinian Chaco in 1896, and four Quaternary fossils from Lagoa Santa, Brazil. [30] | ![]() |
Habrothrix clivigenis | Lagoa Santa, Brazil | Known from Quaternary fossils. [27] | ||
Juliomys anoblepas | ![]() | |||
Zuniga's dark rice rat | Melanomys zunigae | Lomas de Atocongo, near Lima, Peru | Last recorded in 1949. Declined due to habitat degradation caused by goat grazing and mining activity. [31] | |
Oxymycterus cosmodius | Lagoa Santa, Brazil | Known from Quaternary fossils. [27] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Giant vampire bat | Desmodus draculae | Eastern South America | Most recent remains in Centinela del Mar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina dated to 1675-1755 AD. [32] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
South American saber-toothed cat | Smilodon populator | Eastern South America | Most recent remains at Itapipoca, Brazil dated to 7129-6239 BCE. [13] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dire wolf | Aenocyon dirus | North America and western South America | Most recent remains at Talara, Peru dated to 7320-6840 BCE; however this date is uncalibrated and the age of the remains could be older. Other late remains from Luján, Argentina were older than the most recent stratigraphical section dated to 9050-8050 BCE. [33] | ![]() |
Falkland Islands wolf | Dusicyon australis | Falkland Islands | Exterminated by sheep farmers in 1876. [34] | ![]() |
Dusicyon avus | Argentina and Uruguay | Most recent remains in the Pampas dated to 1232-1397, and in southernmost Patagonia to 1454-1626. [35] | ![]() | |
Fuegian dog | Lycalopex sp. | Tierra del Fuego and possibly southern Patagonia | Only domestic descendant of the culpeo, bred by the Selkʼnam people. Disappeared during the Selkʼnam genocide in the early 20th century. [36] [37] | ![]() |
Protocyon troglodytes | Middle South America [38] to Yucatan [39] | Most recent remains at Toca da Boa Vista, Brazil dated to 20,000-10,000 years ago. [33] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Arctotherium bonariense | Argentina | Recorded from the Middle Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. [40] | ![]() |
Arctotherium tarijense | Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile | Most recent remains at Cueva de los Chingues, Chile dated to 9310-9210 BCE. [41] | |
Arctotherium wingei | Northeastern South America | Most recent remains at Muaco, Venezuela dated to 7320-6840 BCE. However, this datation is uncalibrated and the remains could be older. [40] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Caribbean monk seal | Neomonachus tropicalis | Caribbean Sea, Bahamas, and Gulf of Mexico | Last recorded in Venezuela before 1700. [42] The species was hunted for its skin, oil, and to remove competition for fishermen. [43] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Toxodon platensis | South America | One tooth found at Abismo Ponta da Flecha, Brazil was dated to 4650-1450 BCE when testing its enamel, and 6050-3450 BCE when testing its dentine. [4] Other remains at Itapipoca were dated to 7320-6099 BCE. [13] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Macrauchenia patachonica | Southwestern South America | Most recent remains at Centinela del Mar, Argentina dated to 9381-9281 BCE. [44] | ![]() |
Xenorhinotherium bahiense | North and east South America | Most recent remains at Itapipoca, Brazil dated to 2267-1543 BCE. [13] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Neolicaphrium recens | Northern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil | Most recent remains at the Dolores Formation, Uruguay dated to the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene, but without exact datation. [45] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Equus neogeus | South America | Most recent remains at Toca do Serrote do Artur, Brazil dated to 6660-4880 BCE. [4] | ![]() |
Hippidion saldiasi | Eastern and southern South America [46] [B] | Most recent remains at Cueva del Medio, Chile dated to 10748-9456 BCE. [15] In San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Chile Hippidion was dated indirectly to c. 9430 BCE; however this date was uncalibrated and the remains could be older. [19] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Hemiauchenia paradoxa | Northern Río de la Plata Basin and central Brazil [48] | Found in Holocene sites of Argentina but without exact dates. [41] | ![]() |
Palaeolama major | Northern and eastern South America | Most recent remains at Itapipoca, Brazil dated to 2281-1402 BCE. [13] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chilihueque | Population of Lama guanicoe | Central Chile | A third domestic South American camelid recorded by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, bred by the Mapuche and different from llamas and alpacas. DNA analysis of remains from Mocha Island (where camelids were introduced by people) indicates that it was a population of Patagonian guanaco that was managed, or domesticated independently from the llama. It disappeared when indigenous communities switched to sheep and horse farming after colonization. [49] | ![]() |
Gracile llama | Population of Lama vicugna | Argentina and the Strait of Magellan | Formerly considered a separate species, Lama gracilis. Most recent remains at Piedra Museo, Argentina dated to 7365-7155 BCE, though this datation is not calibrated and the remains could be older. [50] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Antifer ultra | Río de la Plata Basin to central Chile | Most recent remains in Chile dated to around 7950 BCE. However this datation was not calibrated and the remains could be older. [51] |
Morenelaphus brachyceros | Temperate South America | Most recently dated to 8050-5845 BCE; however this datation was not calibrated and the remains could be older. Other remains from southern Uruguay were dated, and calibrated, to 10010-9907 BCE. [6] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alagoas curassow | Mitu mitu | Alagoas and Pernambuco, Brazil | Declined due to hunting and destruction of its habitat for sugarcane plantation, until the last known individual in the wild was killed near São Miguel dos Campos in either 1987 or 1988. All living individuals descent from three animals captured in 1977, and part of the current captive population is hybridized with the razor-billed curassow. [52] The species was reintroduced to the wild in 2019. [53] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Niceforo's pintail | Anas georgica niceforoi | Central Colombia | Last recorded in 1952. Possibly extinct due to hunting and habitat degradation. [54] |
Fighting shelduck [55] | Neochen pugil | Minas Gerais, Brazil | Known from the late Pleistocene or early Holocene of Lagoa Santa, Brazil. [56] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Colombian grebe | Podiceps andinus | Bogotá wetlands, Colombia | Last recorded in 1977. Extinct due to wetland drainage, siltation, pesticide pollution, disruption caused by reed harvesting, hunting, and predation by introduced rainbow trout. [57] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Cayenne nightjar | Setopagis maculosa | Tamanoir, French Guiana | Only known from the holotype collected in 1917. [58] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bogotá sunangel | Heliantelus zusii | Northern Andes? | Only known from one skin purchased in Bogotá in 1909. It could have disappeared due to deforestation, though the original range is unknown. [54] | |
Alejandro Selkirk firecrown | Sephanoides fernandensis leyboldi | Alejandro Selkirk Island?, Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile | Last recorded in 1908 (with doubts). [54] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Letitia's thorntail | Discosura letitiae | Bolivia | Only known from two males collected at an unknown locality in 1852. [54] | ![]() |
Turquoise-throated puffleg | Eriocnemis godini | Northern Ecuador | Only known from the holotype collected in 1850, with an unconfirmed sighting in 1976. The original habitat at the holotype's location is almost certainly destroyed. [59] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Peruvian rail | Rallus semiplumbeus peruvianus | Peruvian highlands and possibly Ecuador | Only known from the holotype collected in 1886, which is now lost. [54] |
Rallus sp. | Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil | A flightless species known from subfossil remains, presumably extinct due to predation by introduced mammals. [55] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Eskimo curlew | Numenius borealis | Northwestern Canada and Alaska, and Southern Cone | Last recorded in South America in 1939, where it wintered. Likely extinct due to large scale hunting in North America, the conversion of the Great Plains to agriculture, and the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust, once its prey. The South American pampas were converted to agriculture in the same manner afterward. [60] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Asphalt stork | Ciconia lydekkeri | Contiguous United States to Argentina | Known from the late Pleistocene or early Holocene of Lagoa Santa, Brazil. [56] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Pleistovultur nevesi | Matozinhos, Brazil | Known from a humerus dated around 10560-8040 BCE. Presumed extinct as a consequence of the disappearance of the megafauna. [55] | |
Winge's vulture [55] | Wingegyps cartellei | Bahia and Minas Gerais, Brazil | Known from the late Pleistocene or early Holocene of Lagoa Santa. [56] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Pernambuco pygmy owl | Glaucidium mooreorum | Northeast coast of Brazil | Last recorded in 2001. [58] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Glaucous macaw | Anodorhynchus glaucus | Border area of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay | Last recorded in Mbaracayu, Paraguay in 2001. Declined due to clearance of gallery forests for agriculture and livestock grazing, and possibly also hunting and capture of animals for the exotic pet trade. [61] | ![]() |
Sinú parakeet | Pyrrhura subandina | Sinú Valley, Córdoba Department, Colombia | Last recorded in 1949. Declined due to habitat loss to agriculture and cattle grazing, hunting, trapping for the pet trade, and pollution with agrochemicals. [62] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Spix's macaw | Cyanopsitta spixii | Sao Francisco River, Bahia, Brazil | Last recorded in the wild in 2000. Declined due to capture for the pet trade, and habitat loss caused by deforestation, livestock grazing, and the construction of the Sobradinho Dam. [63] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Táchira antpitta | Grallaria chtonia | Southwestern Táchira, Venezuela | Last collected in 1955-1956. Declined due to extensive deforestation of its range for agricultural use. [54] |
Antioquia brown-banded antpitta | Grallaria milleri gilesi | Santa Helena, Antioquia, Colombia | Only known from the holotype, collected in 1878. The type locality has since been deforested for coffee cultivation and other agriculture. [54] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Cryptic treehunter | Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti | Alagoas and Pernambuco, Brazil | Last recorded in 2007. Extinct due to deforestation. [54] |
Alagoas foliage-gleaner | Philydor novaesi | Last recorded in 2011. Extinct due to deforestation. [54] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range |
---|---|---|
Rio de Janeiro antwren | Myrmotherula fluminensis | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [58] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Peltocephalus maturin | Madeira River, Brazil | Only known from a lower jaw dated to 12385-7060 BCE, roughly coinciding with the time when the area was first reached by Paleo-Amerindians. [64] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Maracay harlequin frog | Atelopus vogli | Güey River, Aragua, Venezuela | Last collected in 1957. Its habitat was destroyed by agriculture. [65] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Green and red venter harlequin toad | Atelopus pinangoi | Near Piñango, Mérida, Venezuela | Last recorded in 1997. Declined due to chytridiomycosis, habitat loss caused by logging and ranching, introduced trout, and climate change. [66] |
Scarlet harlequin toad | Atelopus sorianoi | Near Guaraque, Mérida, Venezuela | Last recorded in 1990. Possibly extinct due to chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis , drought, road kills, and habitat loss caused by agriculture. [67] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Spiny-knee leaf frog | Phrynomedusa fimbriata | Sao Paulo and Paraná states, Brazil | Last collected in the 1950s. Extinct due to air pollution and infection by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [68] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Chile Darwin's frog | Rhinoderma rufum | Valparaíso and Biobío, Chile | Last recorded in 1981. The cause of decline is unknown but chytridiomycosis has been suggested. [69] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Aragua robber frog | Pristimantis anotis | Henri Pittier National Park, Aragua, Venezuela | Last collected in 1974. The cause of decline is unknown, though chytridiomycosis is present in the area. [70] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Greasefish | Rhizosomichthys totae | Tota Lake, Colombia | Last collected in 1958. Possibly extinct due to exotic fish introductions ( Eremophilus mutisii , Grundulus bogotensis , Carassius auratus , Oncorhynchus mykiss ) and chemical pollution caused by agriculture. [71] | ![]() |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Titicaca orestias | Orestias cuvieri | Lake Titicaca | The causes of decline are unknown. [72] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|
Megadytes ducalis | Condeúba, Bahia, Brazil | Only known from individuals collected in the 19th century. [73] | ![]() |
Meridiorhantus orbignyi | Argentina and Brazil [74] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Austromenopon confine | Americas | Parasite of the slender-billed curlew. [75] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Cummingsiella breviclypeata | Americas | Parasite of the slender-billed curlew. [75] |
Common name | Scientific name | Range | Comments | Pictures |
---|---|---|---|---|
Caribbean monk seal nasal mite | Halarachne americana | Caribbean Sea | Extinct with its host. [76] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Rhinodrilus fafner | Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil | Only known from the holotype described in 1918. [77] |
Scientific name | Range | Comments |
---|---|---|
Littoridina gaudichaudii | Ecuador [78] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range | Pictures |
---|---|---|
Tomigerus gibberulus | Brazil [79] | |
Tomigerus turbinatus | Brazil [80] | ![]() |
Scientific name | Range |
---|---|
Megalobulimus cardosoi | Brazil [81] |
Scientific name | Range |
---|---|
Aylacostoma chloroticum | Paraná River [82] |