After 1500, extinct mammals are not uncommonly marsupials
Taking a look at the list of extinct mammals and their distribution, it’s noticeable that a large number of marsupials (Marsupiala) that lived on the continent of Australia have gone extinct. The most famous among them: the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger. Hunting of Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial led to its systematic eradication. The last Tasmanian tiger died in the Hobart Zoo in 1936.
Since the arrival of Europeans in Australia, many marsupials have become severely endangered or already extinct. This includes kangaroos (Macropodidae) – the marsupials for which the Australian continent is famous – such as the eastern hare-wallaby around 1890. Then there were various potoroids (Potoroidae) that disappeared: the broad-faced potoroo around 1875 and the desert rat kangaroo in the first half of the 20th century. Additionally, a variety of bandicoots (Peramelemorphia) no longer exist, for example, the lesser bilby, the pig-footed bandicoot, the desert bandicoot (Iwurra), and the long-nosed bandicoot Perameles papillon, which was scientifically described only in 2018 and went extinct between 1930 and 1960. Besides introduced predators (red foxes or cats), food competitors (rabbits), and diseases, habitat loss often plays a significant role in the disappearance of marsupial species.
Extinct mammals in Germany?
In most cases, mammal species that are extinct in Germany still exist in other parts of Europe or Asia, so they are only considered extinct here; these include, for example, brown bears, ground squirrels, moose, or European bison, some of which have been or are being reintroduced or occasionally find their way back here on their own. However, the famous aurochs (Ur), which once lived here, in the Middle East, and in Central Asia, is truly extinct. The wild cattle, which is considered the largest herbivore after the Ice Age, died out in 1627 due to intensive hunting and the destruction of its habitat. Today, efforts are being made to breed visually similar cattle through breeding back techniques.
The Bavarian pine vole (Microtus bavaricus), endemic to the Northern Limestone Alps and Eastern Alps and in Tyrol (Austria), was also considered extinct in Germany. After no mice of this species could be found despite intensive searches in 2009, the Bavarian pine vole is listed as “extinct” in Germany in the Red List; the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN lists it as “critically endangered” due to habitat destruction. In the summer of 2023, the Bavarian pine vole was rediscovered in Germany after all.
Mammals extinct on islands
While many birds extinct in modern times often occurred on islands – and only there – extinct mammals were predominantly native to the mainland. But not all: For example, a whole series of animals from the group of New World mice lived on islands and went extinct. On the Galápagos Islands, the Darwin’s rice rat and the Galápagos giant rat disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century. The reason was introduced black rats, which brought disease agents against which the island rats were not immune. But also other alien species such as cats, wild dogs, goats, or pigs certainly contributed to the disappearance of endemic rodents.
Similar events occurred on Australia’s Christmas Island: The Maclear’s rat and the Christmas Island rat disappeared in 1903 or 1904 when black rats arrived on the island as ship rats at the end of the 19th century in a shipment of hay. These brought fleas with endoparasites, which eventually led to the extinction of the native rats within a very short time. By the way, of the originally five mammal species living on Christmas Island, only one remains, and it is highly endangered – the Christmas Island flying-fox (Pteropus melanotus natalis). The Christmas Island shrew (Crocidura trichura) is presumed to have disappeared in the 1990s, and the Christmas Island pipistrelle in 2009.
The first mammal to go extinct due to climate change is considered to be another island-dwelling rat: the Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat. It lived on the small Australian coral island of Bramble Cay together with seabirds and sea turtles. Starting in the 1990s, human-induced climate change led to a rise in sea levels, causing the island area permanently above water to steadily decrease and hurricanes and floods to become increasingly frequent. During an expedition to the island in 2014, there was no trace of the Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, and only two of the eleven plant species native to the island remained.
Extinct mammals: Data & facts (as of 09/2023)
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently lists 85 mammal species and 6 subspecies or varieties that are (most likely) extinct since 1500. In addition, 839 species are listed as “data deficient” and 233 as “critically endangered”. Often, these are species known only from a single specimen (holotype) or have been missing for decades, so it can be assumed that more than just 85 mammal species have become extinct in modern times.
According to the IUCN, the largest part of the extinct mammals, with 38 species and 3 subspecies, comes from the order of rodents. The second-largest part consists of marsupials with 13 extinct species. Furthermore, there are nine bat species (including the giant vampire bat), 8 ungulates (including the bluebuck or Lemerle’s hippopotamus), 7 species from the order of insectivores, 6 carnivores (such as the Falkland wolf and giant fossa), 2 primates (a giant lemur and the Jamaican monkey), 3 subspecies from the order of odd-toed ungulates (e.g., quagga, red gazelle or Syrian wild ass), 1 lagomorph (Sardinian pika), and 1 sirenian (Steller’s sea cow) extinct.