This is a list of South American animals 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]
Only collected twice, in 1821 in Brazil and 1899 in Argentina. The causes of decline are unknown, but possibly related to habitat loss through logging and agriculture.[3]
Armadillos, pampatheres, and glyptodonts (order Cingulata)
Most recently dated at El Totumo, Colombia, to 4170-4050 BCE; however this date is uncalibrated and the remains are assigned to the Late Glacial. Other remains from Toro, Valle del Cauca are assigned to the Holocene but with no direct date.[17] Calibrated remains at Itapipoca, Brazil were dated to 8209-5886 BCE,[13] and at El Cautivo, Ecuador to 6810-6650 BCE.[4]
Most recent remains at Vaquerías Gruta 1, Argentina dated to 1150 BCE - 1570 CE. Related to the Mountain viscacha rat but different enough to be a new species.[23]
Hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice (family Cricetidae)
Most recent remains at Talara, Peru dated to 7320-6840 BCE; however this date is uncalibrated and the age of the remains could be older. Other late remains from Luján, Argentina were older than the most recent stratigraphical section dated to 9050-8050 BCE.[33]
One tooth found at Abismo Ponta da Flecha, Brazil was dated to 4650-1450 BCE when testing its enamel, and 6050-3450 BCE when testing its dentine.[4] Other remains at Itapipoca were dated to 7320-6099 BCE.[13]
A third domestic South American camelid recorded by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, bred by the Mapuche and different from llamas and vicuñas. DNA analysis of remains from Mocha Island (where camelids were introduced by people) indicates that it was a population of Patagonian guanaco that was managed, or domesticated independently from the llama. It disappeared when indigenous communities switched to sheep and horse farming after colonization.[46]
Formerly considered a separate species, Lama gracilis. Most recent remains at Piedra Museo, Argentina dated to 7365-7155 BCE, though this datation is not calibrated and the remains could be older.[47]
Most recently dated to 8050-5845 BCE; however this datation was not calibrated and the remains could be older. Other remains from southern Uruguay were dated, and calibrated, to 10010-9907 BCE.[6]
Declined due to hunting and destruction of its habitat for sugarcane plantation, until the last known individual in the wild was killed near São Miguel dos Campos in either 1987 or 1988. All living individuals descent from three animals captured in 1977, and part of the current captive population is hybridized with the razor-billed curassow.[49] The species was reintroduced to the wild in 2019.[50]
Last recorded in 1977. Extinct due to wetland drainage, siltation, pesticide pollution, disruption caused by reed harvesting, hunting, and predation by introduced rainbow trout.[54]
Only known from the holotype collected in 1850, with an unconfirmed sighting in 1976. The original habitat at the holotype's location is almost certainly destroyed.[56]
Last recorded in South America in 1939, where it wintered. Likely extinct due to large scale hunting in North America, the conversion of the Great Plains to agriculture, and the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust, once its prey. The South American pampas were converted to agriculture in the same manner afterward.[57]
Border area of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Last recorded in Mbaracayu, Paraguay in 2001. Declined due to clearance of gallery forests for agriculture and livestock grazing, and possibly also hunting and capture of animals for the exotic pet trade.[58]
Last recorded in 1949. Declined due to habitat loss to agriculture and cattle grazing, hunting, trapping for the pet trade, and pollution with agrochemicals.[59]
Last recorded in the wild in 2000. Declined due to capture for the pet trade, and habitat loss caused by deforestation, livestock grazing, and the construction of the Sobradinho Dam.[60]
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.[51]
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.[64]
^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.
^Stuart, A.J. (2021) Vanished Giants: The Lost World of the Ice Age. University of Chicago Press, 288 pages.
^ abUbilla, M., et al. (2018). "Mammals in last 30 to 7 ka interval (Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene) in southern Uruguay (Santa Lucía River Basin): last occurrences, climate, and biogeography". Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 25(2), 291-300.
^ abcGhilardi, A. M., Fernandes, M. A., & Bichuette, M. E. (2011). "Megafauna from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits of the Upper Ribeira karst area, southeast Brazil". Quaternary International, 245 (2), 369-378.
^ abcdefda Silva, R. C., Berbert-Born, M., Bustamante, D. E. F., Santoro, T. N., Sedor, F., & dos Santos Avilla, L. (2019). "Diversity and preservation of Pleistocene tetrapods from caves of southwestern Bahia, Brazil". Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 90, 233-254.
^ abGutiérrez, M.A. et al. (2010). "Supervivencia diferencial de mamíferos de gran tamaño en la región pampeana en el Holoceno temprano y su relación con aspectos paleobiológicos". In Zooarqueología a principios del siglo XXI: Aportes teóricos, metodológicos y casos de estudio. Ediciones del Espinillo, Buenos Aires, 231-242.
^Zurita, A. E. (2007). Sistemática y evolución de los Hoplophorini (Xenarthra: glyptodontidae: hoplophorinae. Mioceno tardío-Holoceno temprano). Importancia bioestratigráfica, paleobiogeográfica y paleoambiental. (Doctoral dissertation, Universidad Nacional de La Plata).
^Carlini, A. A. (2006) Neuryurus (Xenarthra, Glyptodontidae) in the Lujanian (late Pleistocene–early Holocene) of the Pampean region. N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Mh., pp. 78-88.
^Fariña, R. A., Vizcaíno, S. F., & Bargo, M. S. (1998). "Body mass estimations in Lujanian (late Pleistocene-early Holocene of South America) mammal megafauna". Mastozoología Neotropical, 5 (2), 87-108.
^ abcdef Cortes, Fábio and Carvalho, Ismar de Souza and de Araújo-Júnior, Hermínio Ismael and Ximenes, Celso Lira and Facincani, Edna M. Facincani, (2024) 3,500 Years BP: The Last Survival of the Mammal Megafauna in the Americas. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5047403 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5047403
^ abBarnosky, A. D., & Lindsey, E. L. (2010). "Timing of Quaternary megafaunal extinction in South America in relation to human arrival and climate change". Quaternary International, 217 (1-2), 10-29.
^Cruz, L. E., Bargo, M. S., Tonni, E. P., & Figini, A. J. (2010). "Radiocarbon date on megafauna from the late Pleistocene-early Holocene of Córdoba province, Argentina: stratigraphic and paleoclimatic significance". Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 27 (3), 470-476.
^Miño-Boilini, Á. R., & Quiñones, S. I. (2020). "Los perezosos Scelidotheriinae (Xenarthra, Folivora): taxonomía, biocronología y biogeografía". Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, 22 (2), 201-218.
^Rodríguez-Flórez, C. D., Rodríguez-Flórez, E. L., & Rodríguez, C. A. (2009). "Revisión de la fauna pleistocénica Gomphotheriidae en Colombia y reporte de un caso para el Valle del Cauca. Boletín Científico. Centro de Museos". Museo de Historia Natural, 13 (2), 78-85.
^Quintana, C. (2005). Despiece de microroedores en el Holoceno Tardío de las Sierras de Tandilia (Argentina). Archaeofauna, 14, 227-241.
^Fariña, R.A., Vizcaíno, S.F., & De Iuliis, G. (2013) Megafauna: Giant beasts of Pleistocene South America. Indiana University Press, 435 pages.
^De Santi, N. A., Verzi, D. H., Olivares, A. I., Piñero, P., Morgan, C. C., Medina, M. E., ... & Tonni, E. P. (2020). A new peculiar species of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) from the Holocene of central Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 100, 102499.
^ abHadler, P., Verzi, D. H., Vucetich, M. G., Ferigolo, J., & Ribeiro, A. M. (2008). Caviomorphs (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the Holocene of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil: systematics and paleoenvironmental context. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 11(2), 97-116.
^Verzi, D. H., Olivares, A. I., Hadler, P., Castro, J. C., & Tonni, E. P. (2018). Occurrence of Dicolpomys (Echimyidae) in the late Holocene of Argentina: the most recently extinct South American caviomorph genus. Quaternary International, 490, 123-131.
^Verzi, D. H., Olivares, A. I., De Santi, N. A., Morgan, C. C., López, J. M., & Chiavazza, H. (2024). A new extinct desert rodent from the Holocene of South America and its bearing on the diversity of Octodontidae (Hystricognathi). Journal of Mammalogy, 105(1), 59-72.
^ abcdDas Neves, S. B., Pardiñas, U. F., Hadler, P., Mayer, E. L., & Ribeiro, A. M. (2020). A new fossil cricetid (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) from northeastern Brazil with remarks on small mammal extinctions in the tropical Quaternary. Journal of Mammalogy, 101(4), 1133-1147.
^Pardiñas, U.F.J., & Tonni, E.P. (2000). "A giant vampire (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in the Late Holocene from the Argentinean pampas: paleoenvironmental significance". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 160 (3-4), 213-221.
^ abPrevosti, F. J., Tonni, E. P., & Bidegain, J. C. (2009). "Stratigraphic range of the large canids (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America, and its relevance to quaternary biostratigraphy". Quaternary International, 210 (1-2), 76-81.
^Silva Rochefort, B., & Root‐Bernstein, M. (2021). "History of canids in Chile and impacts on prey adaptations". Ecology and Evolution, 11 (15), 9892-9903.
^Petrigh, R. S., & Fugassa, M. H. (2013). Molecular identification of a Fuegian dog belonging to the Fagnano Regional Museum ethnographic collection, Tierra del Fuego. Quaternary International, 317, 14-18.
^Prevosti, F. J., Zurita, A. E., & Carlini, A. A. (2005). Biostratigraphy, systematics, and paleoecology of Protocyon Giebel, 1855 (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 20(1-2), 5-12.
^Schubert, B. W., Chatters, J. C., Arroyo-Cabrales, J., Samuels, J. X., Soibelzon, L. H., Prevosti, F. J., ... & Erreguerena, P. L. (2019). Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange. Biology Letters, 15(5), 20190148.
^ abRincón, A. D., & Soibelzon, L. H. (2007). "The fossil record of the short-faced bears (Ursidae, Tremarctinae) from Venezuela. Systematic, biogeographic, and paleoecological implications". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, 244.
^Prado, J. L., Martinez-Maza, C., & Alberdi, M. T. (2015). "Megafauna extinction in South America: A new chronology for the Argentine Pampas". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 425, 41-49.
^Root-Bernstein, M., & Svenning, J. C. (2016). Prospects for rewilding with camelids. Journal of Arid Environments, 130, 54-61.
^Westbury, M., Prost, S., Seelenfreund, A., Ramírez, J. M., Matisoo-Smith, E. A., & Knapp, M. (2016). "First complete mitochondrial genome data from ancient South American camelids-the mystery of the chilihueques from Isla Mocha (Chile)". Scientific Reports, 6 (1), 1-7.
^Weinstock, J., Shapiro, B., Prieto, A., Marín, J. C., Gonzalez, B. A., Gilbert, M. T. P., & Willerslev, E. (2009). The Late Pleistocene distribution of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) and the “extinction” of the gracile llama (“Lama gracilis”): New molecular data. Quaternary Science Reviews, 28(15-16), 1369-1373.
^Labarca, R., & Alcaraz, M. A. (2011). "Presencia de Antifer ultra Ameghino (= Antifer niemeyeri Casamiquela)(Artiodactyla, Cervidae) en el Pleistoceno tardío-Holoceno temprano de Chile central (30-35° S)". Andean Geology, 38 (1), 156-170.
^Francisco, M. R., Costa, M. C., Azeredo, R. M., Simpson, J. G., da Costa Dias, T., Fonseca, A., ... & Silveira, L. F. (2021). "Recovered after an extreme bottleneck and saved by ex situ management: Lessons from the Alagoas curassow (Pauxi mitu [Linnaeus, 1766]; Aves, Galliformes, Cracidae)". Zoo Biology, 40 (1), 76-78.
^ abcMittermeier, J. C., Rutt, C. L., Safford, R., Long, B., Hanks, C., & Lebbin, D. J. (2022). Fantastic lost birds and how you can help find them: an updated gap analysis for the Neotropical avifauna. Neotropical Birding, 31, 25-32.
^Ferreira, G. S., Nascimento, E. R., Cadena, E. A., Cozzuol, M. A., Farina, B. M., Pacheco, M. L. A. F., ... & Langer, M. C. (2024). The latest freshwater giants: a new Peltocephalus (Pleurodira: Podocnemididae) turtle from the Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian Amazon. Biology Letters, 20(3), 20240010.