Recent extinctions

03Recently extinct

Flightlessness was not a failure, but the result of evolving on an island without large predators.

24Recently extinct

Australia’s striped marsupial predator survived longest in Tasmania.

25Recently extinct

Flocks once darkened the sky, yet abundance could not protect a species dependent on immense colonies.

26Recently extinct

This flightless North Atlantic seabird used its wings as powerful underwater paddles.

27Recently extinct

This enormous, slow sirenian grazed kelp in cold shallow water.

28Recently extinct

One of the tallest birds ever known browsed forests without wings of any kind.

29Recently extinct

The largest known eagle evolved to strike moa many times its own weight.

72Recently extinct

This plains zebra had bold stripes in front fading into a plain brown rear body.

73Recently extinct

The powerful wild ancestor of domestic cattle once ranged across three continents.

74Recently extinct

The only seal endemic to the Caribbean rested and bred on warm sandy shores.

75Recently extinct

This unusually tame island canid was the Falklands’ only native land mammal.

76Recently extinct

Bright green flocks once made this the only parrot native to the eastern United States.

77Recently extinct

Males and females had dramatically different bills but foraged as a pair.

78Recently extinct

These massive flightless birds laid the largest eggs known from any vertebrate.

79Recently extinct

The bucardo was the first extinct animal briefly brought back as a clone—and the first to go extinct twice.

98Recently extinct

One of the world’s largest freshwater fish migrated the length of the Yangtze.

99Recently extinct

This small sea duck had a specialized bill for feeding in shallow coastal water.

100Recently extinct

This large coastal sea lion bred on rocky islands across the Sea of Japan.

117Recently extinct

A saddle-backed shell and long neck reached high vegetation; the last known individual died in 2012.

118Recently extinct

Brilliant orange males gathered briefly each rainy season within a tiny highland range.

119Recently extinct

Females swallowed fertilized eggs, suppressed stomach acid and released developed froglets from the mouth.

120Recently extinct

This palm-sized insect bat fell from island-wide abundance to a final acoustic signal in 2009.

133Recently extinct

It was not a true olive; the last wild tree died in 1994 and its last cultivated descendant in 2003.

134Recently extinct

Demand for fragrant wood reduced this island tree to a final individual recorded in 1908.

135Recently extinct

Pink-purple pea flowers once carried this monotypic island plant into European glasshouses.

136Recently extinct

This violet occupied one small patch of pale limestone before quarrying removed its habitat.

156Recently extinct

Silvery hairy leaves and small pale flowers once covered dry slopes; the last reliable collection was made in 1771.

157Recently extinct

Purple pea flowers grew on one limestone river island, with the final herbarium collection made in 1881.

158Recently extinct

The only scientifically recorded tree bore curved yellow-green tubular flowers probably adapted to Hawaiian honeycreepers.

159Recently extinct

Narrow leaves and hibiscus-like red flowers were confined to southeastern Oʻahu and vanished within decades of discovery.

160Recently extinct

Red-striped yellow-green tubular flowers opened among fleshy paired leaves; the last reliable sighting was in 1954.

338Recently extinct

This tall flightless island bird was closer to megapodes than its heavy build suggested.

339Recently extinct

Powerful legs and a heavy bill belonged to a flightless ground forager.

340Recently extinct

A flightless ibis turned thickened wrist bones into club-like weapons.

345Recently extinct

Island scarcity shrank a giant-elephant lineage to about one meter at the shoulder.

346Recently extinct

It was hunted out for fur before scientists could describe a living animal.

347Recently extinct

Its blue cast likely came from gray hair over dark skin rather than bright fur.

348Recently extinct

Broad multi-tined antlers formed a crown above floodplain grasslands.

463Recently extinct

Strong legs carried a medium moa whose feathers resembled shaggy hair.

464Recently extinct

This giant flightless pigeon fought with bony wing knobs and was the dodo's closest relative.