Wikipedia

List of Galapagos Islands species extinct in the Holocene

This is a list of Galápagos Islands 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)[A] and continues to the present day.[1]

Map of the Galápagos Islands

This list includes species that have gone extinct from the Galápagos Islands, an island archipelago belonging to Ecuador.

Many species have disappeared from the Galápagos Islands as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity.

Mammals (class Mammalia)

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Rodents (order Rodentia)

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Hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice (family Cricetidae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Galápagos giant rat Megaoryzomys curioi Santa Cruz Most recent remains dated to 1520-1950.[2] Possibly extinct by introduced predators like feral dogs, cats, pigs, and black rats.[3]
Isabela giant rat Megaoryzomys sp. Isabela Most recent remains dated to 1515-1950.[2]
Darwin's Galápagos mouse Nesoryzomys darwini Santa Cruz Last recorded in 1930. Extinct due to competition, pathogens transmitted by, or predation by black rats, house mice, brown rats, and feral cats.[4]
Indefatigable Galápagos mouse Nesoryzomys indefessus Santa Cruz and Baltra Last collected in 1934. Extinct due to competition, pathogens transmitted by, or predation by black rats, house mice, brown rats, and feral cats.[5]
Nesoryzomys spp. Isabela Two different unnamed species, associated with anthropogenically introduced mammalian species in archaeological sites.[2]
Nesoryzomys sp. Rábida Most recent remains dated to 4771-4316 BCE.[2]

Birds (class Aves)

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Perching birds (order Passeriformes)

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Tanagers (family Thraupidae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Darwin's ground finch Geospiza magnirostris magnirostris Floreana and San Cristóbal Only recorded alive by Charles Darwin in 1835. It was restricted to the lowlands which were the most affected by human settlement starting in 1832; introduced donkeys, cattle, and goats reduced the Opuntia cacti it fed and nested on, while dogs, cats, and rats predated on the birds.[6]

Tyrant flycatchers (family Tyrannidae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments
San Cristóbal flycatcher Pyrocephalus dubius San Cristóbal Last recorded in 1987. Likely extinct due to predation by introduced rats, the avian vampire fly, or avian pox.[7]

Reptiles (class Reptilia)

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Turtles and tortoises (order Testudines)

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Tortoises (family Testudinidae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Pinta Island tortoise Chelonoidis niger abingdonii Pinta The last known individual (Lonesome George) was captured in 1972 and died in Santa Cruz's Tortoise Center in 2012, but hybrid descendants survive in northern Isabela Island. Declined due to hunting and habitat destruction by grazing feral goats.[8]
Floreana giant tortoise Chelonoidis niger niger Floreana Disappeared from the wild in the mid-19th century, though hybrids survive in captivity and in northern Isabela Island. Likely extinct due to hunting and the impact of introduced mammals including pigs, dogs, cats, goats, donkeys, cattle, black rats and house mice.[9]
Santa Fe Island tortoise Chelonoidis niger 'Santa Fe Island' Santa Fe Undescribed lineage, known from subfossil bones.[10]
Rabida Island tortoise Chelonoidis nigra wallacei Rabida Hypothetical subspecies based on tracks seen in 1897 and a single individual collected in 1906 but not preserved. No logs from whaling or sealing vessels make mention of collecting at Rabida, which has a good anchorage and a corral nearby in which tortoises, perhaps from other islands, were temporarily held. The type specimen is of unknown provenance and was assigned to Rabida because it resembled the 1906 individual.[11] The Reptile Database considers it synonymous with Chelonoidis niger guentheri.[12]
Extinct in the wild
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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Fernandina Island tortoise Chelonoidis niger phantasticus Fernandina Considered extinct after the only known individual, a male, was killed in 1906. An elderly female was discovered in 2019[13] and transferred to a breeding center.[14]

Ray-finned fish (class Actinopterygii)

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Ovalentaria incertae sedis

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Family Pomacentridae

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Possibly extinct
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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Galápagos damsel Azurina eupalama Galápagos Islands Last recorded during the 1982-83 El Niño event, which warmed the waters it inhabited and killed off the plankton on which it fed.[15]

Copepods (class Copepoda)

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Order Calanoida

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Family Diaptomidae

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Common name Range Comments
Mastigodiaptomus galapagoensis El Junco, San Cristóbal Island Last recorded in 2004. Likely wiped out after the introduction of invasive tilapias to El Junco in 2005.[16]

Starfishes (class Asteroidea)

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Order Forcipulatida

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Family Heliasteridae

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Possibly extinct
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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
24-rayed sunstar Heliaster solaris Galápagos Islands Last recorded during the 1982-83 El Niño event.[17]

Brown algae (class Phaeophyceae)

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Order Desmarestiales

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Acid weeds (family Desmarestiaceae)

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Possibly extinct
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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Tropical acidweed Desmarestia tropica Post Office Bay, Floreana; and Caleta Tagus, Isabela Last recorded in 1972. As a cold water species with a limited range, it could have been wiped out by the 1982-1983 El Niño event.[18]

Order Fucales

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Family Sargassaceae

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Possibly extinct
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Common name Scientific name Range Comments Pictures
Galapagos stringweed Bifurcaria galapagensis Galápagos Islands[19] Last recorded during the 1982-83 El Niño event.[20]

Red algae (division Rhodophyta)

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Order Nemaliales

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Family Galaxauraceae

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Possibly extinct
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Scientific name Range Comments
Galaxaura barbata Galápagos Islands Known from three individuals collected in Post Office Bay, Floreana in 1934; Santa Cruz in 1945, and Tortuga Bay in 1962.[21]

Order Ceramiales

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Family Delesseriaceae

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Possibly extinct
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Scientific name Range Comments
Phycodrina elegans Galápagos Islands Last collected in 1977.[22]

Plants (kingdom Plantae)

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Order Asterales

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Sunflowers (family Asteraceae)

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Scientific name Range Comments
Delilia inelegans Floreana Only known from the type collected by Charles Darwin in 1835.[23]

Order Caryophyllales

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Amaranths (family Amaranthaceae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments
Galapagos amaranth Gomphrena rigida Santiago Last collected in 1906. Possibly exterminated by introduced goats.[24]

Order Cucurbitales

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Gourds (family Cucurbitaceae)

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Common name Scientific name Range Comments
Pepino de Galápagos Sicyos villosus Floreana Only recorded by Charles Darwin in 1835.[25]

Notes

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  1. ↑ The source gives "11,700 calendar yr b2k (before CE 2000)". But "BP" means "before CE 1950". Therefore, the Holocene began 11,650 BP. Doing the math, that is c. 9700 BCE.

References

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  1. ↑ Walker, Mike; Johnsen, Sigfus; Rasmussen, Sune Olander; Popp, Trevor; Steffensen, Jorgen-Peder; Gibrard, Phil; Hoek, Wim; Lowe, John; Andrews, John; Bjo Rck, Svante; Cwynar, Les C.; Hughen, Konrad; Kersahw, Peter; Kromer, Bernd; Litt, Thomas; Lowe, David J.; Nakagawa, Takeshi; Newnham, Rewi; Schwander, Jakob (2009). "Formal definition and dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Holocene using the Greenland NGRIP ice core, and selected auxiliary records" (PDF). Journal of Quaternary Science. 24 (1): 3–17. Bibcode:2009JQS....24....3W. doi:10.1002/jqs.1227. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Turvey, Sam (2009). Holocene extinctions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-953509-5. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  3. ↑ Weksler, M.; Tirira, D.G. (2019). "Megaoryzomys curioi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019 e.T136657A22330270. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T136657A22330270.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ↑ Tirira, D.G.; Weksler, M. (2019). "Nesoryzomys darwini". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019 e.T14706A22390382. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T14706A22390382.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  5. ↑ Tirira, D.G.; Weksler, M. (2019). "Nesoryzomys indefessus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019 e.T14708A22390443. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T14708A22390443.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  6. ↑ Hume, J.P. (2017) Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages.
  7. ↑ BirdLife International (2017). "Pyrocephalus dubius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T103682916A119211257. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103682916A119211257.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Cayot, L.J.; Gibbs, J.P.; Tapia, W.; Caccone, A. (2016). "Chelonoidis abingdonii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T9017A65487433. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T9017A65487433.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  9. ↑ van Dijk, P.P.; Rhodin, A.G.J.; Cayot, L.J.; Caccone, A. (2017). "Chelonoidis niger". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017 e.T9023A3149101. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T9023A3149101.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  10. ↑ Durham, W. H. (2021). Exuberant Life: An Evolutionary Approach to Conservation in Galápagos. Oxford University Press.
  11. ↑ "Galapagos Giant Tortoises". rit.edu. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010.
  12. ↑ "Chelonoidis guntheri". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  13. ↑ "Giant tortoise believed extinct for 100 years found in Galápagos". The Guardian. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Not seen for 100 years, a rare Galápagos tortoise was considered all but extinct – until now". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  15. ↑ Allen, G.; Robertson, R.; Rivera, R.; et al. (2010). "Azurina eupalama". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T184017A8219600. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T184017A8219600.en.
  16. ↑ Elías-Gutiérrez, Manuel; Steinitz-Kannan, Miriam; Suárez-Morales, Eduardo; López, Carlos (2023). "Mastigodiaptomus galapagoensis n. sp. (Crustacea: Copepoda: Diaptomidae), a possibly extinct copepod from a crater lake of the Galápagos archipelago". PeerJ. 11 e15807. doi:10.7717/peerj.15807. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 10424671. PMID 37583912.
  17. ↑ Alvarado, J.J. & Solis-Marin, F.A. (2012). Echinoderm Research and Diversity in Latin America. Springer Science & Business Media.
  18. ↑ Miller, K.A.; Garske, L.; Edgar, G. (2007). "Desmarestia tropica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007 e.T63585A12684515. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63585A12684515.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. ↑ Dulvy, N. K., Pinnegar, J. K., & Reynolds, J. D. (2009). Holocene extinctions in the sea. In Turvey, S. (2009) Holocene Extinctions, pgs. 129-150.
  20. ↑ Miller, K.A.; Garske, L. & Edgar, G. (2007). "Bifurcaria galapagensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007 e.T63593A12686056. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63593A12686056.en. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  21. ↑ Miller, K.A.; Garske, L.; Edgar, G. (2007). "Galaxaura barbata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007 e.T63651A12703033. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63651A12703033.en. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  22. ↑ "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Phycodrina elegans". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. March 2007.
  23. ↑ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/61483949/61483979
  24. ↑ Tye, A.; Lau, B. (2014). "Blutaparon rigidum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014 e.T39087A61481721. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T39087A61481721.en. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  25. ↑ Sørensen, Karina (31 December 2005). "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Sicyos villosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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