The table below shows the complete list of mammal species classed as extinct since 1500 AD (the past 500 years). Subspecies are included at the end of the table. The data comes from the 2007 Red List of threatened species maintained by the World Conservation Union — also known as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It’s possible that other mammal species became extinct during that period without their disappearance having been recorded. The rate of extinction for all animals has increased in recent centuries.

There are 271 Critically Endangered mammals in the IUCN database — 163 mammal species and 108 subspecies. Just one example is the Baiji dolphin, or Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer). The database entry states: “The preponderance of evidence indicates that the baiji is very close to extinction or may already be extinct.” Critically Endangered species of any taxonomic group can be tagged as “Possibly Extinct” or “Possibly Extinct in the Wild.”

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Click on the scientific names to go to the database entries for the species.

Mammals Extinct after 1500 AD
#	Scientific name [IUCN database links]	Common name
1	Acerodon lucifer	Panay giant fruit bat
2	Boromys offella	Oriente cave rat
3	Boromys torrei	Torre’s cave rat
4	Brotomys voratus	Hispaniolan edible rat
5	Caloprymnus campestris	Desert rat kangaroo
6	Cervus schomburgki	Schomburgk’s deer
7	Chaeropus ecaudatus	Pig-footed bandicoot
8	Conilurus albipes	Rabbit-eared tree-rat
9	Dusicyon australis	Falklands wolf (or fox)
10	Equus quagga	Quagga
11	Gazella arabica	Arabian gazelle
12	Gazella bilkis	Queen of Sheba’s gazelle
13	Gazella rufina	Red gazelle
14	Geocapromys columbianus	Cuban coney
15	Geocapromys thoracatus	Swan Island hutia
16	Hexolobodon phenax	Imposter hutia
17	Hippopotamus lemerlei	Madagascan dwarf hippopotamus
18	Hippopotamus madagascariensis	Madagascan pygmy hippo
19	Hippotragus leucophaeus	Blue buck
20	Hydrodamalis gigas	Steller’s sea cow
21	Isolobodon montanus	Montane hutia
22	Lagorchestes asomatus	Central hare-wallaby
23	Lagorchestes leporides	Eastern hare-wallaby
24	Leporillus apicalis	White-tipped stick-nest rat
25	Macropus greyi	Toolache wallaby
26	Macrotis leucura	Lesser bilby
27	Megalomys desmarestii	Antillean giant rice rat
28	Megalomys luciae	Santa Lucia giant rice rat
29	Monachus tropicalis	Caribbean monk seal
30	Mustela macrodon	Sea mink
31	Mystacina robusta	New Zealand greater short-tailed bat
32	Nesophontes hypomicrus	Atalaye nesophontes
33	Nesophontes micrus	Western Cuban nesophontes
34	Nesophontes paramicrus	St. Michel nesophontes
35	Nesophontes zamicrus	Haitian nesophontes
36	Nesoryzomys darwini	Darwin’s galapagos mouse
37	Nesoryzomys indefessus	Indefatigable galapagos mouse
38	Notomys amplus	Short-tailed hopping mouse
39	Notomys longicaudatus	Long-tailed hopping mouse
40	Notomys macrotis	Big-eared hopping-mouse
41	Notomys mordax	Darling Downs hopping mouse
42	Nyctimene sanctacrucis	Nendo tube-nosed fruit bat
43	Nyctophilus howensis	Lord Howe long-eared bat
44	Onychogalea lunata	Crescent nail-tailed wallaby
45	Oryzomys nelsoni	Nelson’s rice rat
46	Papagomys theodorverhoeveni	Verhoeven’s giant tree rat
47	Paulamys naso	Flores long-nosed rat
48	Perameles eremiana desert	Bandicoot
49	Peromyscus pembertoni	Pemberton’s deer mouse
50	Phyllonycteris major	Puerto Rican flower bat
51	Plagiodontia ipnaeum	Samana hutia
52	Potorous platyops	Broad-faced potoroo
53	Procyon gloveralleni	Barbados raccoon
54	Prolagus sardus	Sardinian pika
55	Pseudomys gouldii	Gould’s mouse
56	Pteropus brunneus	Dusky flying fox
57	Pteropus pilosus	Large Palau flying fox
58	Pteropus subniger	Dark flying fox
59	Pteropus tokudae	Guam flying fox
60	Quemisia gravis	Twisted-toothed mouse
61	Rattus macleari	Maclear’s rat
62	Rattus nativitatis	Bulldog rat
63	Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei	Lemke’s hutia
64	Solenodon marcanoi	Marcano’s solenodon
65	Spelaeomys florensis	Flores cave rat
66	Sphiggurus pallidus	Pallid hairy dwarf porcupine
67	Thylacinus cynocephalus	Tasmanian tiger (or wolf)
68	Uromys imperator	Emperor rat
69	Uromys porculus	Guadalcanal rat
70	Zalophus japonicus	Japanese sea lion
Mammal subspecies extinctions
71	Alcelaphus buselaphus ssp. buselaphus	Bubal hartebeest
72	Bettongia gaimardi ssp. gaimardi	Eastern bettong
73	Bettongia lesueur ssp. graii	Burrowing bettong
74	Bettongia penicillata ssp. penicillata	Brush-tailed bettong
75	Capra pyrenaica ssp. pyrenaica	Pyrenean ibex
76	Conepatus mesoleucus ssp. telmalestes	Big thicket hog-nosed skunk
77	Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ssp. lasiotis	Sumatran rhinoceros subspecies
78	Equus burchelli ssp. burchelli	Burchell’s zebra
79	Equus hemionus ssp. hemippus	Syrian wild ass
80	Geomys pinetis ssp. goffi	Goff’s southeastern pocket gopher
81	Kobus leche ssp. robertsi	Roberts’ lechwe
82	Lagorchestes hirsutus ssp. hirsutus	Rufous hare-wallaby
83	Lagostrophus fasciatus ssp. albipilis	Banded hare-wallaby
84	Oryzomys galapagoensis ssp. galapagoensis	Galapagos Islands rodent
85	Ourebia ourebi ssp. kenyae	Kenya oribi
86	Panthera tigris ssp. balica	Bali tiger
87	Panthera tigris ssp. sondaica	Javan tiger
88	Panthera tigris ssp. virgata	Caspian tiger
89	Perameles bougainville ssp. fasciata	Western barred bandicoot
90	Peromyscus gossypinus ssp. restrictus	Chadwick Beach cotton mouse
91	Peromyscus polionotus ssp. decoloratus	Ponce de Leon beach mouse
92	Phacochoerus aethiopicus ssp. aethiopicus	Cape warthog
93	Ratufa indica ssp. dealbata	Indian giant squirrel
94	Sigmodon arizonae ssp. arizonae	Arizona cotton rat
95	Sigmodon fulviventer ssp. goldmani	Hot Springs cotton rat
96	Sus cebifrons ssp. cebifrons	Cebu warty pig
97	Synaptomys cooperi ssp. paludis	Kansas bog lemming
98	Synaptomys cooperi ssp. relictus	Nebraska bog lemming
99	Thomomys mazama ssp. tacomensis	Tacoma pocket gopher
100	Ursus arctos ssp. nelsoni	Mexican grizzly bear
Extinct in the Wild
1	Ammotragus lervia ssp. ornata	Egyptian barbary sheep
2	Equus ferus	Wild horse, including ssp. przewalskii
3	Gazella saudiya	Saudi gazelle
4	Macropus eugenii ssp. eugenii	Tammar wallaby
5	Mustela nigripes	Black-footed ferret — has been successfully re-introduced into the wild and will be re-classified in the 2008 RedList.
6	Oryx dammah	Scimitar-horned oryx

 
One more, not yet recorded in the database:

After extensive surveys in 2006, no remaining West African black rhinos could be found. The chairman of the IUCN’s African Rhino Specialist Group said in a press release that this subspecies has been tentatively declared extinct.

Regionally extinct subspecies:

The table below shows three regionally extinct mammals which are often described as extinct ‘species’ — 2 varieties of lion and the Atlas bear. Some zoos believe they have descendants of Cape lions and Barbary lions in their present day collections. Further information about lion species is available at the University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity website.

Regionally Extinct Varieties
Scientific name	Species name	Region	Name of extinct variant
Panthera leo	African lion	Morocco	Barbary lion
		South Africa	Cape lion
Ursus arctos	Brown bear	Morocco	Atlas bear (ssp. crowtheri)

When did they die out?

The pie chart on the right is a rough guide only. There are many species in the list with no recorded sightings since they were first described. Others are only known from skeletal remains and haven’t been seen alive. For example, the database entry for Marcano’s solenodon says: “Solenodon marcanoi is known only from skeletal remains from Hispaniola. Its remains were found in association with Rattus suggesting that it survived past the time of initial European colonisation.” Species first described in the late 19th century and never seen again have been divided between the 19th and 20th centuries in the pie chart.