This is a list of Australia-New Guinea species 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.
The Australian continent is also called Australia-New Guinea or Sahul to avoid confusion with the country of Australia. The continent includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, the island of New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and other nearby islands. Australia-New Guinea is divided between three countries: Australia (mainland Australia and Tasmania), Papua New Guinea (eastern New Guinea), and Indonesia (Western New Guinea and the Aru Islands). Extinct species from the rest of Indonesia are covered in List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene. Species from the outlying islands of the country of Australia and the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea are included below. The Solomon Islands archipelago, split between Papua New Guinea (Autonomous Region of Bougainville) and the country of Solomon Islands, is covered in List of Oceanian species extinct in the Holocene.
The fauna of Australia-New Guinea is unique. Marsupials and monotremes also existed on other continents, but only in Australia-New Guinea did they come to dominate. Aside from marine mammals, only two orders of placental mammals are native to Australia-New Guinea: rodents and bats. Dingoes and New Guinea singing dogs are considered feral dogs (Canis familiaris) introduced by humans. The Christmas Island shrew is related to Asian shrews; no members of the order Eulipotyphla are native to Australia-New Guinea proper.
New Zealand species extinct in the Holocene are listed separately. The fauna of New Zealand is distinct from Australia-New Guinea. Birds, including numerous flightless birds, are the most important part of New Zealand's vertebrate fauna. Bats are New Zealand's only native land mammals.
Numerous species have disappeared from Australia-New Guinea as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity. Most Australian megafauna disappeared in the Late Pleistocene, considerably earlier than in other continental landmasses. As a result, Australian Holocene extinctions generally are of modest size. Most Holocene extinctions occurred after the European settlement of Australia, which began with the First Fleet in 1788 CE. However, the thylacine, Tasmanian devil, and Tasmanian nativehen were extirpated from mainland Australia thousands of years before European settlement, although they survived in Tasmania. The Norfolk swamphen and several New Guinea mammals also disappeared before European colonisation.
In Australia, plants and animals are listed as extinct at the federal level under the auspices of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Mammals (class Mammalia)
Platypus and echidnas (order Monotremata)
Locally extinct (disputed)
Carnivorous marsupials (order Dasyuromorphia)
Dog-like marsupials (family Thylacinidae)
Marsupial shrews (family Dasyuridae)
Locally extinct
Bandicoots and bilbies (order Peramelemorphia)
Pig-footed bandicoots (family Chaeropodidae)
Kangaroos, possums, wombats, and allies (order Diprotodontia)
Brushtail possums and cuscuses (family Phalangeridae)
Possibly extinct
Kangaroos and wallabies (family Macropodidae)
Bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos (family Potoroidae)
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Old World rats and mice (family Muridae)
Possibly extinct
Locally extinct
True insectivores (order Eulipotyphla)
True shrews (family Soricidae)
Possibly extinct
Possibly extinct, megabats (family Pteropodidae)
Carnivorans (order Carnivora)
Earless seals (family Phocidae)
Locally extinct
Birds (class Aves)
Cassowaries and emus (order Casuariiformes)
Cassowaries and emus (family Casuariidae)
Locally extinct
Ducks, geese, and swans (family Anatidae)
Pigeons and doves (family Columbidae)
Rails and cranes (order Gruiformes)
Possibly extinct, rails (family Rallidae)
Locally extinct, rails (family Rallidae)
Petrels and shearwaters (family Procellariidae)
Boobies, cormorants, and allies (order Suliformes)
Hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures (family Accipitridae)
True owls (family Strigidae)
Barn-owls (family Tytonidae)
Kea and kÃÂkÃÂ (family Nestoridae)
Old World parrots (family Psittaculidae)
Australasian wrens (family Maluridae)
Australian warblers (family Acanthizidae)
Cuckooshrikes and allies (family Campephagidae)
Fantails and silktails (family Rhipiduridae)
Crows and relatives (family Corvidae)
Australasian robins (family Petroicidae)
Possibly extinct
Possibly extinct, white-eyes (family Zosteropidae)
Grassbirds and allies (family Locustellidae)
Possibly extinct
Thrushes (family Turdidae)
Starlings (family Sturnidae)
Reptiles (class Reptilia)
Squamates (order Squamata)
Common geckos (family Gekkonidae)
Amphibians (class Amphibia)
Frogs (order Anura)
Australian ground frogs (family Myobatrachidae)
Treefrogs and allies (family Hylidae)
Data deficient, treefrogs and allies (family Hylidae)
Data deficient
Extinct in the wild
Insects (class Insecta)
Predaceous diving beetles (family Dytiscidae)
Book lice, bark lice, and sucking lice (order Psocodea)
Chicken body lice (family Menoponidae)
Possibly extinct
Bird chewing lice (family Philopteridae)
Hard ticks (family Ixodidae)
Snails and slugs (class Gastropoda)
Fungi (kingdom Fungi)
Lichenized fungi (order Lecanorales)
Main lichenized fungi (family Parmeliaceae)
Locally extinct
Red algae (division Rhodophyta)
Plants (kingdom Plantae)
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Polypodies and hard ferns (family Polypodiaceae)
Locally extinct
Whisk ferns and hanging fork ferns (family Psilotaceae)
Maidenhair ferns and relatives (family Pteridaceae)
Locally extinct
Flowering plants (clade Angiospermae)
Locally extinct
Fig-marigolds (family Aizoaceae)
Celeries, carrots and parsleys (family Apiaceae)
Locally extinct
Possibly extinct
Possibly extinct
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Legumes (family Fabaceae)
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Banana trees (family Musaceae)
Willowherbs (family Onagraceae)
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
True grasses (family Poaceae)
Locally extinct
Locally extinct
Coffee and relatives (family Rubiaceae)
Mistletoes and sandalwoods (family Santalaceae)
Possibly extinct
Locally extinct
Nightshades (family Solanaceae)
Locally extinct
See also
Notes
References