This is a list of North American animals extinct in the Holocene that covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years before present (about 9700 BCE) and continues to the present day.
Recently extinct animals in the West Indies and Hawaii are in their own respective lists. The Florida Keys and Cozumel are included in this list due to their geographic and geological proximity to the continent.
Many extinction dates are unknown due to a lack of relevant information.
Mammals (class Mammalia)
Armadillos, pampatheres, and glyptodonts (order Cingulata)
Chlamyphorid armadillos and glyptodonts (family Chlamyphoridae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesNorth American glyptodontGlyptotherium cylindricumGulf of Mexico coast to northeastern BrazilMost recent remains at Quetzaltenango, Guatemala dated to 9948-9306 BCE.Stinnesbeck, S.R. (2020) Mexican Fossil Ground Sloths: A Case Study for Late Pleistocene Megafaunal Turnover in the Mexican Corridor. Doctoral dissertation.
Anteaters and sloths (order Pilosa)
Megalonychid ground sloths (family Megalonychidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeComments PicturesJefferson's ground slothMegalonyx jeffersoniiAlaska to northern MexicoMost recent remains dated to 9540-9420 BCE.Greater cenotes slothXibalbaonyx ovicepsPuerto Morelos, MexicoMost recent remains at El Zapote cenote dated to 8697-8355 BCE.
Mylodonts (family Mylodontidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesHarlan's ground slothParamylodon harlaniMexico, Southern and Western United StatesMost recent remains dated to 9880-8280 BCE.
Nothrotheriid ground sloths (family Nothrotheriidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesShasta ground slothNothrotheriops shastensisCalifornia to YucatanMost recent remains dated to 8725-8175 BCE.
Elephant-like mammals (order Proboscidea)
Gomphotheres (family Gomphotheriidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesCuvier's gomphothereLucas, S. G. Vertebrate Paleontology in New Mexico - A brief history. Vertebrate Paleontology in New Mexico: Bulletin 68, 68, 1.Cuvieronius hyodonCentral America, northern and central AndesMost recent remains at Estanzuela, Guatemala dated to 9117-8793 BCE.
Mastodons (family Mammutidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesAmerican mastodonMammut americanumNorth AmericaMost recent remains dated to 7110-6810 BCE.
Elephants and mammoths (family Elephantidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesColumbian mammothMammuthus columbiSouthern and Western United States, and northern MexicoMost recent remains dated to 8080-7700 BCE.Pygmy mammothMammuthus exilisSanta Rosae island, CaliforniaMost recent remains dated to 9130-9030 BCE.Woolly mammothMammuthus primigeniusNorthern Eurasia and North AmericaMost recent remains at St. Paul, Alaska dated to 3635-3580 BCE.Graham, R.W. et al. (2016). Timing and causes of mid-Holocene mammoth extinction on St. Paul Island, Alaska. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(33), 9310-9314.
Sea cows (order Sirenia)
Dugongs (family Dugongidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesSteller's sea cowHydrodamalis gigasBering SeaMost recent remains at Kiska, Alaska dated to 1710-1785 CE.Domning, D. P., Thomason, J., & Corbett, D. G. (2007). "Steller's sea cow in the Aleutian Islands". Marine Mammal Science, 23 (4), 976-983.
Lagomorphs (order Lagomorpha)
Pikas (family Ochotonidae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsGiant pikaOchotona whartoniNorthern North America and possibly northeastern SiberiaMost recent remains dated to 8301-7190 BCE.
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Beavers (family Castoridae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesGiant beaverCastoroides ohioensisNorth AmericaMost recent remains at Wayne County, New York dated to 10050-9550 BCE.Feranec, R.S., & Kozlowski, A.L. (2010) "AMS radiocarbon dates from Pleistocene and Holocene mammals housed in the New York state museum, Albany, New York, USA". Radiocarbon, 52 (1), 205-208.
Hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice (family Cricetidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesGull Island voleMicrotus pennsylvanicus nesophilusGreat Gull Island, New YorkLast collected in 1897. Disappeared when the Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound were built.Williams, J. D., & Dodd Jr, C. K. (1978). "Importance of wetlands to endangered and threatened species". In Wetland Functions and Values: The State of Our Understanding, 565-575.Anthony's woodratNeotoma bryanti anthonyiIsla Todos Santos, MexicoLast recorded in 1926. Extinct due to predation by introduced feral cats. Bunker's woodratNeotoma bryanti bunkeriCoronados Islands, MexicoLast recorded in 1931. Likely extinct due to depletion of food sources and predation by introduced cats. San Martín Island woodratNeotoma bryanti martinensisIsla San Martín, MexicoLast recorded in the 1950s. Extinct due to predation by introduced cats.Nelson's rice ratOryzomys nelsoniMaría Madre Island, MexicoLast recorded in 1897. Possibly extinct due to introduced black rats.Giant island deer mousePeromyscus nesodytesChannel Islands of CaliforniaMost recent remains at Cave of the Chimneys, San Miguel Island, dated to around 950 CE. If the species survived into colonial times it might have become extinct due to overgrazing, increased wind and water erosion destroying its natural habitat.Ainis, A. F., & Vellanoweth, R. L. (2012). "Expanding the chronology for the extinct giant island deer mouse (Peromyscus nesodytes) on San Miguel Island, California, USA". The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 7 (1), 146-152.Pemberton's deer mousePeromyscus pembertoniSan Pedro Nolasco Island, MexicoLast collected in 1931. Pallid beach mousePeromyscus polionotus decoloratusCoastal FloridaLast recorded in 1946. Extinct due to extensive habitat loss.Hafner, D.J. (1998) North American Rodents: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, 171 pages.
Possibly extinct Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsAngel Island mousePeromyscus guardiaIsla Ángel de la Guarda, Mexico and nearby isletsLast collected on Ángel de la Guarda in 1993. Declined due to competition with introduced rodents, and predation by cats.Puebla deer mousePeromyscus mekisturusSoutheast Puebla, MexicoLast recorded in 1957. Possibly extinct due to habitat degradation caused by agriculture or climate change.
Gophers (family Geomyidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsGoff's pocket gopherGeomys pinetis goffiPineda Ridge, FloridaLast recorded in 1955.Tacoma pocket gopherThomomys mazama tacomensisTacoma-Steilacoom, Washington areaLast collected in 1962. Extinct due to habitat alteration through residential development and gravel mining.
Carnivorans (order Carnivora)
Cats (family Felidae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesAmerican lionPanthera atroxBritish Columbia to Central AmericaMost recent remains at Edmonton, Alberta dated to 9405 BCE.Stuart, A. J., & Lister, A. M. (2011). Extinction chronology of the cave lion Panthera spelaea. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(17-18), 2329-2340.North American sabertooth catSmilodon fatalisSouthern Alberta to northwestern South AmericaMost recent remains dated to 7615-7305 BCE.
Locally extinct Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesEastern cougarPopulation of the North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar)Eastern North AmericaLast confirmed individual trapped in Somerset County, Maine in 1938.Bolgiano, C. & Roberts, J. (2005) The Eastern Cougar: Historic Accounts, Scientific Investigations, and New Evidence. Stackpole Books, 246 pages. Though named as a distinct subspecies in 1946, genetic research indicates that no population of North American cougars is different enough to warrant subspecies status.
Dogs (family Canidae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesDire wolfAenocyon dirusNorth America and western South AmericaMost recent remains at Rancho La Brea, California dated to 10208-8718 BCE. Also dated in Cutler Hammock, Florida to the Greenlandian stage of the Holocene.Kenai Peninsula wolfCanis lupus alcesKenai Peninsula, AlaskaExterminated through hunting, trapping, and poisoning by 1915. Wolves recolonized the Peninsula in 1962, a decade after predator eradication efforts were reduced.Bangs, E.E. et al. (1982) "Effects of increased human populations on wildlife resources of the Kenai Peninsula". In Transactions of the Forty-Seventh North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, ed. Kenneth Sabol (Washington, D.C., 1982)Newfoundland wolfCanis lupus beothucusNewfoundlandLast known individual killed in 1896.Glover, A. (1942) Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, With the Marine Species of All the Oceans. American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, pp. 205-206.Banks Island wolfCanis lupus bernardiBanks Island, Northwest TerritoriesLast recorded between 1918 and 1952.Carbyn, L.N. et al. (1995) Ecology and Conservation of Wolves in a Changing World. University of Alberta Press, 620 pages. Considered a synonym of the arctic wolf (C. l. arctos) by some authors on morphological grounds.Chambers, S. M., Fain, S. R., Fazio, B., & Amaral, M. (2012). "An account of the taxonomy of North American wolves from morphological and genetic analyses". North American Fauna, (77), 1-67.Cascade Mountains wolfCanis lupus fuscusPacific NorthwestLast recorded in 1940. Considered a synonym of the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) by some authors.Mogollon mountain wolfCanis lupus mogollonensisArizonaLast recorded in 1935. Considered a synonym of the Great Plains wolf (C. l. nubilus) or the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) by different authors.Texas gray wolfCanis lupus monstrabilisTexasLast recorded in 1942. Considered a synonym of the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) by some authors.Southern Rocky Mountain wolfCanis lupus youngiSouthern Rocky MountainsLast recorded in 1935.Florida black wolfCanis rufus floridanusSoutheastern United StatesExtinct by 1920 as a result of deliberate eradication efforts, habitat destruction, and loss of prey.Parker, W.T. (1990) Red Wolf Recovery Plan. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 110 pages.Gregory's wolfCanis rufus gregoryiLower Mississippi ValleyNowak, R. M. (2002). The original status of wolves in eastern North America. Southeastern Naturalist, 1(2), 95-130.The last individuals may have hybridized with coyotes, whose post-1930 expansion eastward was facilitated by deforestation.Southern California kit foxVulpes macrotis macrotisSouthern California coastLast collected in 1903.Clark Jr, H. O. (2011). "The history of arid-land fox discoveries in North America". Archives of Natural History, 38 (2), 300-312.
Extinct in the wild Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesMexican wolfCanis lupus baileyiSouthwestern United States and northern MexicoExtirpated from the wild in the early 1970s and reintroduced in 1998.Hendricks, S. A., Clee, P. R. S., Harrigan, R. J., Pollinger, J. P., Freedman, A. H., Callas, R., ... & Wayne, R. K. (2016). "Re-defining historical geographic range in species with sparse records: implications for the Mexican wolf reintroduction program". Biological Conservation, 194, 48-57.Texas red wolfCanis rufus rufusCentral Texas to southern LouisianaExtinct in the wild by 1980 and introduced (in lieu of the extinct subspecies) to eastern North Carolina in 1987. The species is threatened by human persecution and hybridization with coyotes. Declined as a result of deliberate eradication efforts, habitat destruction, and hybridization with the coyote.
Bears (family Ursidae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesGiant short-faced bearArctodus simusNorth AmericaMost recent remains dated to 8995-8845 BCE.de Alvarenga Araujo, B. B. (2013) Pleistocene-Holocene Extinctions: Distinguishing Between Anthropic and Climatic Causes.
Locally extinct