Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday) header
Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday) profile picture

Extinct Animal of the Day

@extinctoftheday

posting animals that have gone extinct in the Holocene ~ no AI, all images Public Domain or Creative Commons ~main: @Cat_The_Worm

 The 6th Mass Extinction
Joined September 2026
  • Tweets112
  • Following22
  • Followers13.6K
58Media
Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)Photo by Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
SURVIVOR SUNDAY The endangered Black Jumping Salamander (Ixalotriton niger) lives in only 10 square km in Chiapas, Mexico. Its an arboreal species that jumps when disturbed and turns brown at night. It was believed extinct until rediscovered in 2000. 📸: Wouter Beukema
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
14
145
1,285
Cascade funnel-web spider (Hadronyche pulvinator) ~ lived in: southeast Tasmania ~ cause of decline: habitat loss ~ last record: 1926 ~ status: extinct ~ 📸: tasmanianspiders.info/203.ht…
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
4
72
1,012
New Caledonian Barn Owl (?Tyto letocarti) ~ lived in: New Caledonia ~ cause of decline: decline of reptiles, their primary food source, due to invasive rodents ~ last record: Holocene ~ status: extinct 📸: @astrapionte
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
4
90
1,054
Christmas Island Shrew (Crocidura trichura) ~ lived in: Christmas Island, Australia ~ cause of decline: disease spread by invasive rats, predation by invasive snakes, habitat loss ~ last record: 1985 ~ status: extinct 📸: Max Orchard
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
7
97
1,150
Extinct Animal of the Day retweeted
Catworm كاثرين (@Cat_the_worm) profile picture
Catworm كاثرين@Cat_the_wormNov 3
Tomorrow I will continue posting on @extinctoftheday, if I don't y'all are free to hound me in the DMs
1
1
6
388
No animal today I'm afraid! I have gotten a little busy so I'm taking a very brief hiatus.
1
28
931
Merriam's Elk (Cervus canadensis canadensis/merriami)* ~ lived in: southwestern United States ~ cause of decline: hunting, agriculture ~ last record: ~1906 ~ status: extinct * once considered a separate subspecies, now a distinct population of elk 📸: Kaibab National Forest
Rocky Mountain Elk from Kaibab National Forest, reintroduced to the former range of Merriam's Elk

ALT Rocky Mountain Elk from Kaibab National Forest, reintroduced to the former range of Merriam's Elk

14
249
2,435
Giant Ground Beetle (Aplothorax/Calosoma burchelli) ~ lived in: St. Helena ~ cause of decline: habitat loss; invasive predators ~ last record: 1967 ~ status: extinct 📸: Alexander Heyne; Otto Taschenberg
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
6
100
1,157
St. Helena Cuckoo (Nannococcyx psix) ~ lived in: St. Helena ~ cause of decline: possibly deforestation ~ last record: likely extinct in the 18th century ~ status: extinct 📸: Saint Helena Christmas 2023 stamp
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
7
120
1,118
Chapala Lamprey (Tetrapleurodon spadiceus) ~ lives in: Lago de Chapala, Mexico (historically, Lerma-Chapala Basin) ~ cause of decline: dams, habitat degradation, pollution ~ last record: 1987 ~ status: critically endangered (possibly extinct) 📸: FAO
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
7
105
1,248
Very cool! IUCN's assessment came out just about a year before this was published, so I didn't know about this potential rediscovery. Worth noting, the authors didn't ID the specimen to a species and only say that it's "probable" it's the extinct Ukrainian migratory lamprey
Yurij Ivancea (@p0iand) profile pictureYurij Ivancea@p0iandOct 27
Replying to @extinctoftheday
I believe, one was found in 2007.
Image from Yurij Ivancea (@p0iand)
1
1
33
1,041
Ukrainian Migratory Lamprey (Eudontomyzon sp. nov. 'migratory') ~ lived in: Black Sea Basin of Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine ~ cause of decline: unknown ~ last record: late 19th century ~ status: extinct 📸: Eudontomyzon mariae (close relative), by Zsoldos Márton
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
2
19
1
168
1,770
SURVIVOR SUNDAY The Miller Lake lamprey (Entosphenus minimus) is the smallest parasitic lamprey, and native only to the Miller Lake drainage in Oregon. It was presumed extinct in 1958 after fisheries attempted to eradicate it to protect non-native trout populations. 1/2
Brandon Swanson, Oregon Public Broadcasting

ALT Brandon Swanson, Oregon Public Broadcasting

3
21
244
3,448
In 1992, living lampreys were found, and since then efforts have been undertaken to reverse the attempted eradication. Barriers put up to limit them have been taken down, and today their populations appear to be recovering. 2/2
Brandon Swanson, Oregon Public Broadcasting

ALT Brandon Swanson, Oregon Public Broadcasting

48
572
St. Croix Racer (Borikenophis sanctaecrucis) ~ lives in: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands ~ cause of decline: deforestation, invasive mongoose ~ last record: 1898 ~ status: critically endangered (possibly extinct) 📸: Puerto Rican Racer (close relative), inaturalist.org/photos/89430…
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
14
141
1,483
Franklin's Bumblebee (Bombus franklini) ~ lives in: 190 miles in Northern CA and southern OR ~ cause of decline: diseases from commercial bumblebees, habitat degradation, pesticides ~ last record: 2006 ~ status: critically endangered (possibly extinct) 📸: James P. Strange
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
14
151
1,295
Red-Bellied Gracile Opossum (Cryptonanus ignitus) ~ lived in: Jujuy, Argentina ~ cause of decline: deforestation of only known habitat ~ last record: 1962 ~ status: extinct 📸: C. agricolai (close relative), by Thomaz de Carvalho Callado
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
14
2
187
1,527
North African Zebra (Equus mauritanicus) ~ lived in: North Africa ~ cause of decline: aridification ~ last record: 4000 BC ~ status: extinct 📸: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F…
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
11
221
1,667
Snail-Eating Coua (Coua delalandei) ~ lived in: Île Sainte-Marie off the coast of Madagascar ~ cause of decline: complete deforestation of Île Sainte-Marie, over-hunting, decline of snails due to invasive rats ~ last record: 1834 ~ status: extinct 📸: Nicolas Huet
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
20
1
221
1,909
SURVIVOR SUNDAY The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) is a venomous, nocturnal insectivore. It's also one of the last two endemic terrestrial mammals of Hispaniola. In 1981, it was declared functionally extinct. Now it's Least Concern. 📸: Pedro Genaro Rodriguez 1/3
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
61
1
475
3,926
Solenodons are a unique family of mammals. 73 million years ago, they diverged from shrews, moles, and hedgehogs. In the last 500 years, two solenodon species went extinct. Now there are just the Hispaniolan and Cuban solenodons. 📸: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F… 2/3
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
1
43
573
The Hispaniolan solenodon suffered severe population declines from deforestation and invasive species, but with strong conservation efforts they have rebounded, especially in Dominican Republic. The Haitian populations remain under massive pressures. 📸: Royle Safaris 3/3
Image from Extinct Animal of the Day (@extinctoftheday)
43
402
Load more