Extinct Australian animals

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Following is an incomplete list of Australian vertebrate extinctions from 1788 to the present, in the format:

• Common name, scientific name, habitat, estimated date of extinction, probable main causes (listed, where possible, with the most significant causes first).

There are 23 birds, 4 frogs, and 27 mammal species known to have become extinct since European settlement of Austalia. 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.

Contents 1 Extinct Australian vertebrates: 1788 to present: 1.1 Birds 1.2 Frogs 1.3 Mammals 2 See also 3 Reference

Extinct Australian vertebrates: 1788 to present:

Birds

• King Island Emu, Dromaius ater, King Island, 1805. Hunting.
• Kangaroo Island Emu, Dromaius baudinianus, Kangaroo Island, 1827. Hunting, fires.
• 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, Queensland and northern NSW, 1927. Date uncertain; more recent sightings are sometimes claimed but have never been confirmed. Cause uncertain, most hypotheses 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.

Frogs

The reason for the decline and extinction of these frog species is unclear, decline in frog populations is an international phenomenon.

• Gastric brooding frog, Rheobatrachus silus, rainforest of south East Queensland
• Eungella gastric brooding frog, Rheobatrachus vitellinus, limited to an extremely small area of rainforest in South East Queensland, last seen in 1985
• Sharp-snouted Day Frog also called the Sharp-snouted Torrent Frog, Taudactylus acutirostris, Queensland rainforest species, last observed in 1994
• Southern Day Frog also known as the Mt Glorious Torrent Frog, Taudactylus diurnus, Queensland rainforest species, last seen in 1995

Mammals

• White-footed Tree-rat, Conilurus albipes, Victoria, coastal NSW and South Australia, early 19th century. Unknown causes.
• 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.
• 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.
• Lesser Bilby, Macrotis leucura, arid central & western districts, 1931. Fur trapping, fox predation, rabbit competition for burrows.
• Toolache Wallaby, Macropus greyi, swampy grasslands in Victoria and Southern Australia, 1932. Hunting & habitat loss to grazing.
• Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus, Tasmania, 1933. Bounty hunting, habitat destruction, collection for zoos. Extinction on the mainland in late pre-historic times was probably the result of the introduction of dingoes.
• 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 and 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 and open woodlands, 1950s. Decline of Aboriginal land burning (on which it thrived), grazing.
• Gould's Mouse, Pseudomys gouldii

See also

• Invasive species in Australia
• Australian fauna

Reference

• Department of Environment and Heritage. EPBC Act List of Threatened Fauna