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Aurochs
The last recorded aurochs was a female in Poland’s Jaktorów Forest. A royal inspection recorded that she died in 1627. Polish rulers had protected the dwindling herd by restricting hunting. The bones pictured here are from a much older aurochs found in Denmark.
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Steller's sea cow
Georg Wilhelm Steller observed these kelp-eating mammals near Bering Island in 1741. Fur traders hunted them for food as they traveled through the islands. By 1768 the sea cow had disappeared. Skeletons like this one in London preserve some of the physical evidence.
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Bluebuck
The bluebuck was already scarce when European settlement expanded in southern South Africa. Hunting helped drive the remaining antelope to extinction around 1800. The mounted skin pictured here comes from Vienna’s Natural History Museum. Researchers have also used DNA to identify genuine bluebuck material in museum collections.
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Falkland Islands wolf
The warrah was the Falklands’ only native land mammal. People hunted it out, and the last reported killing was in 1876 on West Falkland. The mounted specimen shown here is in Tūhura Otago Museum. Its skin came from the islands in the 1870s.
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Quagga
Heavy hunting drove this South African subspecies of plains zebra out of the wild. The last known quagga died at Amsterdam’s Artis Zoo on August 12, 1883, according to its daily records. The mare pictured here lived at London Zoo and is the only individual known to have been photographed alive.
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Thylacine
The Tasmanian government paid bounties for thylacines, adding to the pressure from hunting and habitat loss. The last known animal died at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart on September 7, 1936, less than two months after the species received protection. Later searches have produced no confirmed evidence of survivors.
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Caribbean monk seal
People hunted these seals for oil and other products. The last confirmed sighting was in 1952, and a NOAA review in 2008 concluded that the seal was extinct. The two juveniles in this photograph lived at the New York Aquarium in 1910.
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Round Island burrowing boa
Introduced rabbits and goats stripped vegetation from Round Island, the only place this snake was recorded alive. The IUCN gives 1975 as its last sighting. The snake in the historical illustration is the burrowing boa. The island’s keel-scaled boa survived and belongs to a different genus.
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Rheobatrachus silus
This Queensland frog carried its young in its stomach, then released them through its mouth. The last known wild record was in 1981, and the last captive frog died in 1983. Fungal disease has been proposed as a cause. Museum specimens, such as the one pictured, still record the species’ unusual anatomy.
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Golden toad
Golden toads once gathered at breeding pools in Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forest. In 1989, a single male became the last confirmed record. Studies have examined an exceptionally dry period and the possible role of fungal disease. The timing of the decline is clearer than its cause.
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Christmas Island pipistrelle
In 2009, a survey team on Christmas Island recorded this tiny bat’s echolocation but could not catch it. Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive preserves that recording. Roost disturbance, habitat loss, and introduced animals were among the suspected threats, and no single cause was established.
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Bramble Cay melomys
This rodent lived on a low island in the Torres Strait where repeated flooding stripped away much of its vegetation. The last reported sighting was in 2009. A focused 2014 survey found none, and Australia formally listed it as extinct in 2019.
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Pinta Island tortoise
Hunting reduced this Galápagos tortoise population, and introduced goats damaged the vegetation on Pinta. Lonesome George, pictured here, was the last known individual. He died in 2012. Genetic tests later identified hybrid tortoises on Isabela Island that carry some Pinta ancestry.
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Christmas Island forest skink
The forest skink was last recorded in the wild in 2010. Gump, the last captive individual, died in 2014. Introduced predators, especially the Asian wolf snake, are thought to have played a major part in the decline. Australia formally transferred the skink to its extinct list in 2021.
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