List of Asian species extinct in the Holocene

This is a list of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene that covers extinctions from the Holocene epoch, a geologic epoch that began about 11,650 years before present and continues to the present day.
This list includes the Asian continent and its surrounding islands, including Cyprus. The three Transcaucasian republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are included in the List of European species extinct in the Holocene, even though their territory may fall partially or fully in Asia depending on the definition of Europe considered. Species from Western New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and Christmas Island are listed in the List of Australia-New Guinea species extinct in the Holocene.
Many extinction dates are unknown due to a lack of relevant information.

Mammals (class [Mammalia])

Rodents (order [Rodent]ia)

Old World rats and mice (family [Muridae])

Possibly extinct

Bats (order [Chiroptera])

Megabats (family Pteropodidae">Megabat">Pteropodidae)

Locally extinct

Carnivorans (order [Carnivora])

Cats (family [Felidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Eurasian cave lion	Panthera spelaea	Northern Eurasia and Beringia	Most recent remains at Kokorevo 2, Upper Yenisei region, dated to 11350-9600 BCE.

Locally extinct

Viverrids (family ([Viverridae])

Possibly extinct

Dogs (family [Canidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Hokkaidō wolf	Canis lupus hattai	Hokkaidō, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Iturup and Kunashir	Exterminated by 1889 as part of a plan to use Hokkaidō for horse and cattle ranching.
Japanese wolf	Canis lupus hodophilax	Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, Japan	Last confirmed individual killed in 1905, shortly after a rabies epidemic ravaged the population.

Possibly extinct

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Ussuri dhole	Cuon alpinus alpinus	Western Sayan Mountains to Sikhote-Alin and North Korea	Last recorded in the Western Sayan in 2008.
Tien Shan dhole	Cuon alpinus hesperius	Pamir to Altai Mountains	Last recorded in Altai in the 1970s. Estimated extinct in the former Soviet Union but could survive outside of it. Scat from a dhole of unknown subspecies was found in the Bek-Tosot Conservancy of southern Kyrgyzstan in 2022.

Eared seals (family [Otariidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Japanese sea lion	Zalophus japonicus	Japanese archipelago and Korea	Last confirmed record in the Liancourt Rocks in 1951, with unconfirmed sightings reaching to 1975.

Martens, polecats, otters, badgers, and weasels (family [Mustelidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Hokkaidō otter	Lutra lutra whiteleyi	Hokkaidō and southern Kuril Islands	Last known individual killed at Shiretoko Peninsula in 1950.
Japanese otter	Lutra nippon	Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, Japan	Last confirmed sighting in Shikoku in 1983.

Odd-toed ungulates (order Perissodactyla">Odd-toed ungulate">Perissodactyla)

Horses and allies (family [Equidae])

Extinct in the wild

Locally extinct

Tapirs (family [Tapiridae])

Locally extinct

Rhinoceroses (family Rhinocerotidae">Rhinoceros">Rhinocerotidae)

Possibly extinct

Even-toed ungulates (order Artiodactyla">Even-toed ungulate">Artiodactyla)

Camels and llamas (family [Camelidae])

Extinct in the wild

Hippopotamuses (family [Hippopotamidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus	Hippopotamus minor	Cyprus	Most recent remains dated to 10699-7299 BCE.

Locally extinct

Chinese river dolphins (family [Lipotidae])

Possibly extinct

True deer (family Cervidae">Deer">Cervidae)

Extinct in the wild

Cattle, goats, antelopes, and others (family [Bovidae])

Possibly extinct

Extinct in the wild

Locally extinct

Birds (class [Aves])

Ostriches and fossil relatives (order [Struthioniformes])

Ostriches (family [Struthionidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
East Asian ostrich	Pachystruthio anderssoni	Lake Baikal to Yellow River	Eggshell fragments most recently dated to 7600-6245 BCE in Shabarakh-usu and Barun Daban, Mongolia.
Arabian ostrich	Struthio camelus syriacus	Near East and Arabian Peninsula	Last confirmed individual killed in Jubail, Saudi Arabia around 1941; there was also a second-hand report of a dying animal north of Petra, Jordan in 1966. Its closest relative, the North African ostrich, was introduced as a substitute in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s.

Landfowl (order [Galliformes])

Pheasants and allies (family [Phasianidae])

Possibly extinct

Waterfowl (order [Anseriformes])

Ducks, geese, and swans (family [Anatidae])

Possibly extinct

Pigeons and doves (order Columbiformes">Columbidae">Columbiformes)

Pigeons and doves (family [Columbidae])

Possibly extinct

Rails and cranes (order [Gruiformes])

Rails (family [Rallidae])

Possibly extinct

Cranes (family [Gruidae])

Locally extinct

Shorebirds (order [Charadriiformes])

Plovers, dotterels, and lapwings (family [Charadriidae])

Possibly extinct

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Javan lapwing	Vanellus macropterus	Java and possibly Sumatra and Timor	All reliable and recent records are from Java, with those from other islands being open to interpretation. The last confirmed record was in 1940, and unconfirmed in 2002. Possibly a migratory species. The causes of extinction are unknown but could have been hunting and habitat degradation.

Buttonquails (family [Turnicidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Tawi-tawi buttonquail	Turnix sylvaticus suluensis	Jolo and Tawi-tawi, Philippines	Last recorded in the 1950s. It could have disappeared due to severe deforestation and introduced predators.
	Turnix sp.	Timor	Most recent remains dated to 650 CE.

Pelicans, herons, and ibises (order [Pelecaniformes])

Ibises and spoonbills (family [Threskiornithidae])

Locally extinct in the wild

Owls (order [Strigiformes])

True owls (family [Strigidae])

Possibly extinct

Barn-owls (family [Tytonidae])

Possibly extinct

Kingfishers and relatives (order [Coraciiformes])

Kingfishers (family [Alcedinidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Sangihe dwarf kingfisher	Ceyx fallax sangirensis	Sangihe Island, Indonesia	Last recorded in 1997. Likely extinct due to deforestation caused by intense logging and agriculture.
Ryukyu kingfisher	Todiramphus cinnamominus miyakoensis	Miyako Island, Ryukyu, Japan	Only known from the holotype collected in 1887. Its exact nature is suspect, as the island is unsuitable for kingfishers, the bill's sheath is missing from the holotype, and the length of flight feathers noted in the original description may have been an artefact of preservation. Otherwise the type is similar to the Guam kingfisher.

Perching birds (order [Passeriformes])

Cuckooshrikes (family [Campephagidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Cebu bar-bellied cuckooshrike	Coracina striata cebuensis	Cebu, Philippines	Last collected in 1906, with an unconfirmed report in 2000.

Possibly extinct

Dippers (family [Cinclidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Cyprus dipper	Cinclus cinclus olympicus	Cyprus	Extinct since 1945.

True finches (family [Fringillidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Bonin grosbeak	Carpodacus ferreorostris	Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands	Last collected in 1828; claims of survival until 1890 are not substantiated. Likely disappeared because of deforestation and predation by introduced rats and cats.

Swallows (family [Hirundinidae])

Possibly extinct

Monarch flycatchers (family [Monarchidae])

Possibly extinct

Old World flycatchers (family [Muscicapidae])

Possibly extinct

White-eyes (family [Zosteropidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Mukojima white-eye	Apalopteron familiare familiare	Mukojima, Nakodo-jima, and probably Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands	Last recorded in 1941. Disappeared due to deforestation.

Reptiles (class [Reptilia])

Crocodilians (order [Crocodilia])

Crocodiles (family [Crocodylidae])

Locally extinct

Gharials (family [Gavialidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Chinese gharial	Hanyusuchus sinensis	South China	Last recorded in Hainan, western Guangxi, and the Han River delta in 1292-1630. It was subjected to an official policy of extermination from the Bronze Age to the Ming Dynasty.

Squamates (order [Squamata])

Monitor lizards (family [Varanidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Flores monitor	Varanus hooijeri	Flores and Sumba, Indonesia	Last dated to the Holocene on both islands.

Turtles and tortoises (order [Testudines])

Tortoises (family [Testudinidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Ryukyu tortoise	Manouria oyamai	Ryukyu Islands, Japan	Most recent remains dated to around 9050 BCE.

Amphibians (class [Amphibia])

Frogs (order Anura">frog">Anura)

Fork-tongued frogs (family [Dicroglossidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Gunther's streamlined frog	Nannophrys guentheri	Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected in 1882. The reasons of extinction are unknown.

Shrub frogs (family [Rhacophoridae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Sri Lanka bubble-nest frog	Pseudophilautus adspersus	Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka	Last collected in 1886. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus dimbullae	Dimbula, Sri Lanka	Known only from holotypes collected in 1933. The causes of extinction are unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus eximius	Dimbula, Sri Lanka	Known only from holotypes collected in 1933. The causes of extinction are unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus extirpo	Sri Lanka	Last recorded in 1882. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus halyi	Pattipola, Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected in 1899. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
Whitenose bubble-nest frog	Pseudophilautus leucorhinus	Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected before 1856. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus maia	Ramboda, Sri Lanka	Only known from two specimens collected in 1876 or earlier. Possibly disappeared when the local forest was cleared in 1978, which also resulted in the extinction of the endemic tree Albizia lankaensis.
	Pseudophilautus malcolmsmithi	Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected in 1927. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus nanus	Southern Sri Lanka	Only known from the lectotype collected in 1869. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
Sharp-nosed bush frog	Pseudophilautus nasutus	Sri Lanka	Last recorded in 1869; later observations in Sri Lanka and Southern India are misidentifications. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus oxyrhynchus	Sri Lanka	Only known from the lectotype collected in 1872. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus pardus	Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected before 1859. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus rugatus	Taralanda, Sri Lanka	Only known from the holotype collected in 1927. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus temporalis	Sri Lanka	Only known from the lectotype and type series collected in 1864. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
Variable bush frog	Pseudophilautus variabilis	Sri Lanka	Only known from the lectotype collected in 1858. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus zal	Sri Lanka	Not recorded since before 1947. The cause of extinction is unknown, but habitat loss due to agriculture has been suggested.
	Pseudophilautus zimmeri	Point de Galle, Sri Lanka	Not recorded since 1927. The given range is now heavily urbanized, suggesting habitat destruction as the reason of extinction.

Salamanders (order [Urodela])

True salamanders and newts (family [Salamandridae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Yunnan lake newt	Hypselotriton wolterstorffi	Kunming Lake, Yunnan, China	Last recorded in 1979. Extinct due to predation by introduced fish and frogs, and habitat degradation caused by general pollution, land reclamation, and domestic duck farming.

Ray-finned fish (class [Actinopterygii])

Sturgeons and paddlefishes (order [Acipenseriformes])

Sturgeons (family [Acipenseridae])

Extinct in the wild

Locally extinct

Herrings and anchovies (order [Clupeiformes])

Herrings (family [Clupeidae])

Possibly extinct

Minnows and allies (order [Cypriniformes])

Carps, minnows, and relatives (family [Cyprinidae])

Possibly extinct

Catfishes (order [Siluriformes])

Schilbid catfishes (family [Schilbeidae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Siamese flat-barbelled catfish	Platytropius siamensis	Chao Phraya and Bang Pakong River basins, Thailand	Last recorded in 1975-1977. Disappeared due to damming and canalization of the rivers, pollution, and reclamation of wetlands around Bangkok.

Salmon, trout and relatives (order Salmoniformes">Salmonidae">Salmoniformes)

Salmon, trout and relatives (family [Salmonidae])

Extinct in the wild

Gobies and relatives (order [Gobiiformes])

Gobies (family [Gobiidae])

Possibly extinct

Silversides and rainbowfishes (order [Atheriniformes])

Priapium fishes (family [Phallostethidae])

Possibly extinct

Cartilaginous fish (class [Chondrichthyes])

Ground sharks (order [Carcharhiniformes])

Requiem sharks (family [Carcharhinidae])

Possibly extinct

Shovelnose rays and allies (order [Rhinopristiformes])

Sawfishes (family [Pristidae])

Locally extinct

Insects (class [Insecta])

Dragonflies and damselflies (order [Odonata])

White-legged damselflies (family [Platycnemididae])

Possibly extinct

Arachnids (class [Arachnida])

Order [Sarcoptiformes]

Family [Pterolichidae]

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Compressalges nipponiae	Central China and Taiwan to Japan and the Russian Far East	Parasite of the crested ibis. A conservation-induced extinction produced in the late 20th century.

Slugs and snails (class [Gastropoda])

Order [Stylommatophora]

Family [Ariophantidae]

Scientific name	Range
Vitrinula chaunax	Bonin Islands, Japan
Vitrinula chichijimana	Bonin Islands, Japan
Vitrinula hahajimana	Bonin Islands, Japan

Periwinkles (family [Littorinidae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Littoraria flammea	Chinese coast	Last recorded in 1840. Extinct due to habitat loss.

Plants (kingdom [Plantae])

Lycopods (class [Lycopodiopsida])

Quillworts (family [Isoetaceae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Isoetes sinensis	Jiangsu, Anhui, China	Declined due to industrial development and agricultural expansion.

Flowering plants (clade [Angiospermae])

Cashews (family [Anacardiaceae])

Extinct in the wild

Possibly extinct in the wild

Sunflowers (family [Asteraceae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Pluchea glutinosa	Socotra, Yemen	Last collected between 1888 and 1899.
Psiadia schweinfurthii	Socotra, Yemen	Last collected in the 1890s.

Begonias (family [Begoniaceae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Woolly-stalked begonia	Begonia eiromischa	Betong Island, Malaysia	Last collected in 1898. Its original habitat was cleared for agriculture in the 1980s.

Birches (family [Betulaceae])

Possibly extinct

Honeysuckles (family [Caprifoliaceae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Valeriana affinis	Jebel Ma’alih, Socotra, Yemen	Only known from the holotype collected in 1888.

Dipterocarps (family [Dipterocarpaceae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments	Pictures
Shing-keng	Hopea shingkeng	Arbor Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, India	Only known from the holotype collected in 1911. It has been sometimes reported as occurring in Tibet, either dubiously or erroneously. It could have become extinct as a result of deforestation, as it occurred in low altitude Himalayan moist forests.

Euphorbias (family [Euphorbiaceae])

Extinct in the wild

Legumes (family [Fabaceae])

Common name	Scientific name	Range	Comments
Hainan ormosia	Ormosia howii	Hainan and Guangdong, China	Possibly extinct due to deforestation and agriculture encroaching.

Mallows (family [Malvaceae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Sterculia khasiana	Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India	Last collected in 1877. Likely extinct due to habitat loss caused by extensive agriculture and fires.

Soapberries (family [Sapindaceae])

Scientific name	Range	Comments
Lepisanthes unilocularis	Seashore of Foluo, southwest Hainan, China	Last recorded in 1935.