Markdown

Extinct Animals and Plants - Markdown

Extinct animals and plants are species that once existed on Earth but have disappeared from the wild due to factors such as human activities, climate change, and habitat destruction. According to the IUCN Red List, they are defined as 'Extinct (EX),' and hundreds of species have been classified into this category over the past several centuries. Notable extinct animals include the dodo, thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), and Japanese wolf. Their extinction was primarily caused by environmental destruction, overhunting, and the introduction of invasive species by humans. Learning about extinct species provides important lessons for protecting current biodiversity.

extinction animals plants biodiversity conservation IUCN Red List

| code | slug | name | description | causes | extinctionYear | habitat | scientificName | type |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 001 | dodo | Dodo | An iconic extinct flightless bird. | ["human_hunting","invasive_species","habitat_destruction"] | 1681 | Mauritius Island (Indian Ocean) | Raphus cucullatus | animal |
| 002 | thylacine | Thylacine | An extinct marsupial with a wolf-like or tiger-like appearance. | ["human_hunting","habitat_destruction","disease"] | 1936 | Tasmania Island (Australia) | Thylacinus cynocephalus | animal |
| 003 | japanese-wolf | Japanese Wolf | A endemic wolf species that was widely distributed across the Japanese archipelago. | ["disease","human_hunting","habitat_destruction"] | 1905 | Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu (Japan) | Canis lupus hodophilax | animal |
| 004 | passenger-pigeon | Passenger Pigeon | A North American pigeon once said to have flown in billions. | ["human_hunting","habitat_destruction"] | 1914 | North American continent | Ectopistes migratorius | animal |
| 005 | stellers-sea-cow | Steller's Sea Cow | A large marine mammal that became extinct just 27 years after being discovered by humans. | ["human_hunting"] | 1768 | Bering Sea and Kamchatka Peninsula region | Hydrodamalis gigas | animal |
| 006 | great-auk | Great Auk | A seabird extinct due to excessive hunting for feathers and food. | ["human_hunting"] | 1844 | North Atlantic Ocean | Pinguinus impennis | animal |
| 007 | quagga | Quagga | A type of zebra with stripes only on the front half of its body. | ["human_hunting"] | 1883 | South Africa | Equus quagga quagga | animal |
| 008 | japanese-river-otter | Japanese River Otter | An endemic Japanese otter hunted to extinction for its beautiful fur. | ["human_hunting","habitat_destruction","pollution"] | 2012 | Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu (Japan) | Lutra lutra whiteleyi | animal |
| 009 | caribbean-monk-seal | Caribbean Monk Seal | The seal species discovered earliest by humans, extinct due to tourism development. | ["human_hunting","habitat_destruction"] | 1952 | Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico | Neomonachus tropicalis | animal |
| 010 | woolly-mammoth | Woolly Mammoth | A large herbivore representing the Ice Age, extinct due to climate change and human hunting. | ["climate_change","human_hunting"] | -2000 | Eurasian continent and North America | Mammuthus primigenius | animal |
| 011 | silphium | Silphium | An extinct plant valued in ancient Rome for medicine, food, and currency. | ["human_hunting","habitat_destruction"] | -100 | Cyrenaica (modern-day Libya) | Ferula sp. | plant |
| 012 | cyanea-eleeleensis | Achyranthes atollensis | An extinct endemic plant of Hawaii. | ["habitat_destruction","invasive_species"] | 1964 | Hawaiian Islands | Achyranthes atollensis | plant |
| 013 | koshigaya-hoshikusa | Koshigaya Starwort | A wild extinct plant that inhabited only the sand marsh in Ibaraki Prefecture. | ["habitat_destruction"] | 1994 | Ibaraki Prefecture (Japan) | Stellaria koshigayensis | plant |
| 014 | shibi-itachishida | Shibi Cliff Fern | A wild extinct fern that grew only at the foot of Mount Shibi in Kagoshima Prefecture. | ["habitat_destruction"] | 1990 | Kagoshima Prefecture (Japan) | Woodsia shibiensis | plant |
| 015 | gasha-moku | Gasha Tree | A threatened plant whose habitat was destroyed by land reclamation of lakes and marshes. | ["habitat_destruction"] | 1980 | Chiba Prefecture and Northern Kyushu (Japan) | Aphananthe aspera var. arguta | plant |