Following is an incomplete list of
Australian vertebrate extinctions from
1788 to the present, in the format:
- Common name, Latin name, habitat, estimated date of extinction, probable main causes (listed, where possible, with the most significant causes first).
It is worth making special mention of the three great human-introduced killer species: the European rabbit, the European Red Fox[?], and the domestic cat. Although many other introduced species have played a destructive role, so far these three have been far and away the most significant.
- King Island Emu, Dromaius ater, King Island, 1805. Hunting.
- Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus, Kangaroo Island, 1827. Hunting, fires.
- Big-eared Hopping Mouse[?], Notomys macrotis, south-west WA, 1843. Uncertain causes, probably predation by cats and foxes.
- Darling Downs Hopping Mouse[?], Notomys mordax South-east Qld, 1846. Uncertain, probably predation by cats.
- Broad-faced Potoroo[?], Potorous platyops, South-west WA, 1865. Unknown causes: related species have declined because of grazing and clearing of dense vegetation for agriculture.
- Eastern Hare-wallaby[?], Lagorchestes leporides, Murray-Darling basin, 1890. Decline of Aboriginal burning, grazing.
- Short-tailed Hopping Mouse[?], Notomys amplus, widespread, 1896. Uncertain, probably habitat change, predation by cats and foxes.
- White-footed Rabbit-rat, Conilurus albipes, warm grasslands, 1900. Competition from rabbits & livestock, fox predation. Date uncertain, not reported since the late 19th Century.
- Long-tailed Hopping Mouse[?], Notomys longicaudatus, southwestern WA, southern NT, northwestern NSW, 1901. Uncertain causes, probably cessation of Aboriginal habitat management and fox predation.
- Christmas Island Rat, Rattus macleari, Christmas Island, 1908. Probably a viral disease transmitted by the introduced black rat Rattus rattus.
- Christmas Island Rat, Rattus nativitatusi, Christmas Island, 1908. As R. nativitatusi.
- Crescent Nailtail Wallaby[?], Onychogalea lunata, South-western WA to SA and NT, 1908?. May have survived in NT until 1960s. Habitat loss to grazing and agriculture, destruction of sheltering thickets by cattle may have made it more vulnerable to predation.
- Tasman Starling (Lord Howe Island), Aplonis fusca hulliana, Lord Howe Island, 1918. Predation by the black rat Rattus rattus.
- Tasman Starling (Norfolk Island), Aplonis fusca fusca, Norfolk Island , 1923. Competition from introduced European starling, song thrush and common blackbird, clearance for agriculture.
- Paradise Parrot, Psephotus pulcherrimus, Qld and northern NSW, 1927. Date uncertain, more recent sightings are somtimes claimed but have never been confirmed. Cause uncertain, most hypothesis centre on starvation from lack of grass seed after drought, overgrazing, more frequent fires, and introduction of prickly pear.
- Robust White-eye, Zosterops strenuus, Norfolk Island, early 1920s. Predation by Rattus rattus.
- Lesser Bilby, Macrotis leucura, arid central & western districts, 1931. Fur trapping, fox predation, rabbit competition for burrows.
- Toolache Wallaby[?], Macropus greyi, swampy grasslands in Vic * SA, 1932. Hunting & habitat loss to grazing.
- Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus, Tasmania, 1933. Bounty hunting, habitat destruction, collection for zoos.
- Lesser Stick-nest Rat[?], Leporillus apicalis, Semi-arid areas from Murray basin to WA coast, 1933. Competition from grazing and rabbits.
- Central Hare-wallaby[?], Lagorchestes asomatus, NT-WA border area, 1935. Decline of Aboriginal burning, grazing.
- Desert Rat-kangaroo[?], Caloprymnus campestris, arid central Australia, 1935? Fox & cat predation, rabbit competition, land clearing. Status uncertain, may have survived longer, possibly until the present.
- Pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus, widespread through deserts, grasslands & open woodlands, 1950s. Decline of Aboriginal land burning (on which it thrived), grazing.