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Lists of extinct species

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LifeDomainKingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusSpecies
The hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.

This page features lists of species and organisms that have become extinct. The reasons for extinction range from natural occurrences, such as shifts in the Earth's ecosystem or natural disasters, to human influences on nature by hunting and destruction of natural habitats.

A species is presumed to be extinct after surveys of its expected and historical habitat demonstrate an inability to locate an individual.[1] Species which meet this criterion but are known to be kept in captivity are extinct in the wild. If a final specimen of a moribund species is found, it is an endling.

More than 99% of all species, amounting to over 5 billion species,[2] that ever lived on Earth are extinct.[3][4][5]

Plants

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Animals

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By region

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Fossil taxa

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Recent extinction

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See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "IUCN Red List". IUCN Red List. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "The Biology of Rarity: Causes and consequences of rare—common differences". Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  3. ↑ "Watching, from the Edge of Extinction". Yale University Press. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  4. ↑ Novacek, Michael J. (2014-11-08). "Prehistory's Brilliant Future". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
  5. ↑ Newman, Mark. A model of mass extinction. 1997. Journal of Theoretical Biology 189: 235–252.