List of extinct animals of Europe

This list of extinct animals in Europe features the animals that have become extinct on the European continent and some in other dependent territories of European countries. While most of the animals in the recent Holocene have a human-caused extinction,[1] Pleistocene extinctions and early Holocene extinctions are contested. Many theories of the cause of their extinction have been presented; some human-caused while others as a product of climate change. The K-T extinction is also contested, with the major cause being either both volcano and meteor or just a meteorite that caused the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Many of the extinct animals were subspecies or color morphs such as the pied raven or disputed species like the tarpan or the gravenche. Most extinctions occurred in prehistoric times. The species gone extinct in the last 500 years were mostly from peripheral regions of Europe like the Caucasus, the North Atlantic or Mediterranean islands. Except for molluscs, the only species extinct in the heartland of Europe in the last 500 years is the aurochs, which survives in the form of primitive cattle breeds that possess similar physical features.

Map of Europe

Prehistoric and earlier extinctions

Mammals

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Balearic giant shrew Nesiotites hidalgo	unknown	Spain (the Balearic Islands)	--
Balearic Islands cave goat Myotragus balearicus	3,000 BC	Spain (the Balearic Islands)
Bison schoetensacki Bison schoetensacki		Continental Europe
Canary Islands giant rats Canariomys bravoi and Canariomys tamarani	before 1500	Spain (the Canary Islands)
Cave bear Ursus spelaeus	27,500 BC	Europe
Cave hyena Crocuta crocuta spelaea	11,000 BC	Europe
European Ice Age leopard Panthera pardus spelaea	c. 24,000 BC	Europe
Eurasian cave lion Panthera spelaea	10,000 BC	Europe
Cretan dwarf megacerine	Late Pleistocene	Greece (Crete)	--
Dwarf elephant	unknown	various Mediterranean islands
Elasmotherium Elasmotherium sp.	10,000 BC	Europe
European ass Equus hydruntinus	Holocene	Europe	--
European dhole Cuon alpinus europaeus	Holocene	Europe	--
European gazelle Gazella borbonica	Holocene	Europe	--
Giant Deer Megaloceros giganteus	5,000 BC	northern Europe
Homotherium Homotherium sp.	10,000 BC	Europe
Majorcan giant dormouse Hypnomys morphaeus	unknown	Spain (Majorca)	--
Maltese hippopotamus Hippopotamus melitensis	unknown	Malta	--
Minorcan giant dormouse Hypnomys mahonensis	unknown	Spain (Minorca)	--
Sardinian dhole Cynotherium sardous	unknown	France (Corsica) and Italy (Sardinia)	--
Steppe bison Bison priscus	5,400[2]	British Isles and continental Europe
Stephanorhinus Stephanorhinus sp.	unknown	Europe
Woolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius	earlier than 10,000 BC	Europe
Woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis	10,000 BC	Europe

Birds

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Giant swan Cygnus falconeri	Late Pleistocene	Italy (Sicily) and Malta	--
Ibizan rail Rallus eivissensis	5,000 BC	Spain (the Balearic Islands)	--
Cretan owl Athene cretensis	Late Pleistocene	Greece (Crete)	--

Recent extinctions

Mammals

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Aurochs Bos primigenius[3]	1627	Europe (native to Poland)
Atlantic gray whale Eschrichtius robustus	17th Century	North Atlantic (seen in Mediterranean in 2010)
Caspian tiger Panthera tigris tigris, syn. Panthera tigris virgata[4]	1970s	Turkey to the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasian elk Alces alces caucasicus	1850s	the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasian wisent Bison bonasus caucasicus	1925	the Caucasus Mountains
Carpathian wisent Bison bonasus hungarorum	1790	the Carpathian Mountains
Lion Panthera leo leo[5][6][7]	1st to 4th century AD - 10th century AD	Balkans - Transcaucasia
Majorcan hare Lepus granatensis solisi	1980s	Spain (Majorca)	--
Portuguese ibex Capra pyrenaica lusitanica	1892	Portugal and Spain
Pyrenean ibex Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica	2000[upper-alpha 1]	Andorra, France, Portugal and Spain
Sardinian giant shrew Nesiotites similis	1500s	Italy (Sardinia)	--
Saiga antelope Saiga tatarica	19th century	Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine
Sardinian pika Prolagus sardus[9]	1774	Italy (Sardinia)
St. Kilda house mouse Mus musculus muralis	1930	the United Kingdom (St. Kilda)
Tarpan Equus ferus ferus	1909	Europe

Birds

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Great auk Pinguinus impennis	1854	Iceland and the northern European coast
Pied raven Corvus corax varius morpha leucophaeus	1950	Denmark (the Faroe Islands)

Reptiles

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Ratas Island lizard Podarcis lilfordi rodriquezi	1950	Spain (Minorca)	--
Roque Chico de Salmor giant lizard Gallotia simonyi simonyi	1930s	Spain (the Canary Islands)
Santo Stefano lizard Podarcis sicula sanctistephani	1965	Italy (Santo Stefano Island)	--

Fish

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Chondrostoma scodrense[10]	late 19th century	Albania and Montenegro	--
Coregonus bezola[11]	1960s	Lac du Bourget, France	--
Coregonus fera[12]	1950	France and Switzerland	--
Coregonus restrictus[13]	1890	Lake Morat, Switzerland	--
Gravenche Coregonus hiemalis[14]	1950	France and Switzerland
Houting Coregonus oxyrinchus[15]	1940	Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom
Lake Constance whitefish Coregonus gutturosus[16]	1930s	Austria, Germany and Switzerland
Danube delta gudgeon[17]	1890	the Lower Danube, Romania and Ukraine	--
Salvelinus neocomensis[18]	1904	Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland	--
Techirghiol stickleback Gasterosteus crenobiontus[19]	1960s	Lake Techirghiol, Romania	--
Ukrainian migratory lamprey Eudontomyzon sp. nov. 'migratory'[20]	Unknown	Moldova, Russia and Ukraine	--

Insects

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Madeiran large white Pieris brassicae wollastoni[21]	1970s	Portugal (Madeira)
British large copper Lycaena dispar dispar[22]	1864	England
Silver-studded blue subsp. masseyi Plebejus argus masseyi[23]	1940s	England (Cumbria and Lancashire)
Scarce large blue subsp. burdigalensis Phengaris teleius burdigalensis	?	France
Perrin's cave beetle Siettitia balsetensis[24]	Unknown	France	--
Tobias' caddisfly Hydropsyche tobiasi[25]	1938	Germany	--

Sea anemones

Possibly extinct

Common name/scientific name	Extinction date	Range	Image
Ivell's sea anemone Edwardsia ivelli [26]	1983	Widewater Lagoon, the United Kingdom	--

Molluscs

22 species and three subspecies of gastropods have become extinct in Europe since 1500.[27] No species of bivalves are known to have become extinct in Europe after 1500.[27]

• Belgrandia varica (J. Paget, 1854),[27] already said CR on IUCN Red List
• Belgrandiella boetersi (P. Reischutz & Falkner, 1998) = Belgrandiella intermedia (Austria)[27]
• Bythiospeum pfeifferi (Clessin, 1890)[27]
• Caseolus calvus galeatus (R. T. Lowe, 1862)[27]
• Discula lyelliana (R. T. Lowe, 1852)[27]
• Discula tetrica (R. T. Lowe, 1862)[27]
• Discus engonatus (Shuttleworth, 1852)[27]
• Discus retextus (Shuttleworth, 1852)[27]
• Discus textilis (Shuttleworth, 1852)[27]
• Geomitra delphinuloides (R. T. Lowe 1860)[27]
• Geomitra grabhami (Wollaston, 1878)[27]
• Graecoanatolica macedonica Radoman & Stankovic, 1979 - (Lake Dorjan, North Macedonia, Greece)[27]
• Gyralina hausdorfi Riedel, 1990[27]
• Janulus pompylius (Shuttleworth, 1852)[27]
• Keraea garachicoensis (Wollaston, 1878)[27]
• Leiostyla abbreviata (R. T. Lowe, 1852)[27]
• Leiostyla gibba (R. T. Lowe, 1852)[27]
• Leiostyla lamellosa (R. T. Lowe, 1852)[27]
• Leptaxis simia hyaena (R. T. Lowe, 1852)[27]
• Ohridohauffenia drimica (Radoman, 1964) - (North Macedonia)[27]
• Parmacella gervaisii Moquin-Tandon, 1850[27]
• Pseudocampylaea loweii (A. Ferussac, 1835)[27]
• Zonites embolium elevatus Riedel & Mylonas, 1997[27]
• Zonites santoriniensis Riedel & Norris, 1987[27]
• Zonites siphnicus Fuchs & Käufel, 1936[27]

See also

• Limousin horse, extinct
• List of extinct animals of Catalonia
• List of extinct animals of Caucasus
• List of extinct animals of the British Isles
• List of extinct and endangered species of Italy
• List of extinct and endangered animals of Lithuania
• List of extinct animals of the Netherlands
• List of extinct animals
• List of extinct birds
• Extinct in the wild
• Lazarus taxon

Notes

1. A single cloned individual was born on July 30, 2003, but died several minutes later.[8]

References

1. Baillie, J.E.M., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Stuart, S.N. (Editors) 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List Threatened Species. A Global Species Assessment. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xxiv + 191 pp. Online pdf
2. Zazula, GD, Hall, E., Hare, PG, Thomas, C., Mathewes, R., La Farge, C., et al. (2017). A middle holocene steppe bison and paleoenvironments from the versleuce meadows, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 54(11), pp.1138-1152.
3. Tikhonov, A. (2008). "Bos primigenius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T136721A4332142. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T136721A4332142.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
4. Jackson, P. & Nowell, K. (2011). "Panthera tigris ssp. virgata (Caspian Tiger, Hyrcanian Tiger, Turan Tiger)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
5. Alden, M. (2005). "Lions in paradise: Lion similes in the Iliad and the Lion Cubs of IL. 18.318-22". The Classical Quarterly (55): 335–342.
6. Uhm, D.P. van (2016). The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
7. Heptner, V. G.; Sludskiy, A. A. (1992) [1972]. "Lion". Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola [Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2]. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. pp. 83–95. ISBN 978-90-04-08876-4.
8. J. Folch; J. Cocero; M. J. Chesne; P. Alabart; J. K. Dominguez; V. Congnie; Y. Roche; A. Fernández-Árias; A. Marti; J. I. Sánchez; P. Echegoyen; E. Beckers; J. F. Sánchez; A. Bonastre; X. Vignon (2009). "First birth of an animal from an extinct subspecies (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica) by cloning". Theriogenology. 71 (#6): 1026–1034. doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2008.11.005. PMID 19167744.
9. Smith, A.T. & Johnston, C.H. (2008). "Prolagus sardus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T18338A8103116. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T18338A8103116.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
10. Crivelli, A.J. (2006). "Chondrostoma scodrense". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006: e.T61345A12465545. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61345A12465545.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
11. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus bezola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135556A4144562. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135556A4144562.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
12. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus fera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135627A4165119. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135627A4165119.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
13. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus restrictus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135570A4149314. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135570A4149314.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
14. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus hiemalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135671A4175929. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135671A4175929.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
15. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus oxyrinchus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T5380A11126034. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T5380A11126034.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
16. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Coregonus gutturosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135506A4134620. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135506A4134620.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
17. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Romanogobio antipai". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135636A4167651. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135636A4167651.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
18. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Salvelinus neocomensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135421A4127253. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135421A4127253.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
19. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Gasterosteus crenobiontus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T135637A4167779. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T135637A4167779.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
20. Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008). "Eudontomyzon sp. nov. 'migratory'". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
21. van Swaay, C.; Wynhoff, I.; Verovnik, R.; Wiemers, M.; López Munguira, M.; Maes, D.; Sasic, M.; Verstrael, T.; Warren, M. & Settele, J. (2010). "Pieris wollastoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T39483A10240995. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-1.RLTS.T39483A10240995.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
22. Thomas, J., R. Lewington, 2010. The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland. British Wildlife Publishing, Milton on Stour, U.K..
23. Emmet, A.M., J. Heath et al. (Ed.), 1990. The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Vol. 7 Part 1 (Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae). Harley Books, Colchester, U.K.. 370p.
24. World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). "Siettitia balsetensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T20207A9179037. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T20207A9179037.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
25. World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). "Hydropsyche tobiasi (Tobias' Caddisfly)". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. Retrieved December 25, 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)old-form url
26. "Missing: Possibly Extinct, The Sixth Extinction". The Sixth Extinction. Extinct.petermaas.nl. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
27. Fontaine B., Bouchet P., Van Achterberg K., Alonso-Zarazaga M. A., Araujo R. et al. (2007). "The European union’s 2010 target: Putting rare species in focus." Biological Conservation 139: 167-185. Table 2 on the page 173. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.06.012. PDF.

External links

• The Extinction Website
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
• European Union - Nature and Biodiversity