This is a list of European 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) and continues to the present day.
This list includes the European continent and its surrounding islands. All large islands in the Mediterranean Sea are included except for Cyprus, which is in the List of Asian species extinct in the Holocene. The recently extinct species of the Macaronesian islands in the North Atlantic are listed separately. The three Caucasian republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are included, even though their territory may fall partially or fully in Asia depending on the definition of Europe considered.
Overseas territories, departments, and constituent countries of European countries are not included here; they are found on the lists pertaining to their respective regions. For example, French Polynesia is grouped with Oceania, Martinique is grouped with the West Indies, and Réunion is grouped with Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, despite all of them being politically part of France.
Many extinction dates are unknown due to a lack of relevant information.
Mammals (class Mammalia) Elephant-like mammals (order Proboscidea)
Elephants and mammoths (family Elephantidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesWoolly mammothMammuthus primigeniusNorthern Eurasia and North AmericaMost recent remains in the Southern Urals dated to 9650 BCE, and in Cherepovets, Russia to 9290-9180 BCE.Kuzmin, Y. V. (2010). Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: review of chronological and environmental issues. Boreas, 39(2), 247-261Tilos dwarf elephantPalaeoloxodon tiliensisTilos, GreeceMost recent remains dated to 3040-1840 BCE, but this dating is regarded as tentative.
Lagomorphs (order Lagomorpha)
Rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsDon hareLepus timidus tanaiticusBoeskorov, G. G., Chernova, O. F., & Shchelchkova, M. V. (2023, May). First Find of a Frozen Mummy of the Fossil Don Hare Lepus tanaiticus (Leporidae, Lagomorpha) from the Pleistocene of Yakutia. In Doklady Earth Sciences (Vol. 510, No. 1, pp. 298-302). Moscow: Pleiades Publishing.RussiaGradually replaced by the extant mountain hare south to north until becoming extinct during the Subboreal, 3050-550 BCE.Prost, S., Knapp, M., Flemmig, J., Hufthammer, A. K., Kosintsev, P., Stiller, M., & Hofreiter, M. (2010). A phantom extinction? New insights into extinction dynamics of the Don‐hare Lepus tanaiticus. Journal of evolutionary biology, 23(9), 2022-2029.
Pikas (family Ochotonidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesOchotona transcaucasicaGeorgia and AzerbaijanČermák, S., Obuch, J., & Benda, P. (2006). Notes on the genus Ochotona in the Middle East (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae). Lynx (Praha), 37, 51-66.Similar to the Afghan pika. It probably became extinct in the early Holocene.Averianov, A. (2001). Pleistocene lagomorphs of Eurasia. Deinsea, 8(1), 1-14.Sardinian pikaProlagus sardusCorsica and SardiniaMost recent remains dated to 348 BCE - 283 CE.Vigne, Jean-Denis, Salvador Bailon, and Jacques Cuisin. "Biostratigraphy of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in Corsica and the role of man in the Holocene faunal turnover." Anthropologica 25.26 (1997): 587-604. Though hunted by the original human inhabitants of the islands, it likely became extinct due to Roman agricultural practices, the introduction of predators (dogs, cats, and small mustelids) and ecological competitors (rodents, rabbits, and hares).Vigne, Jean-Denis & Valladas, Hélène (1996). "Small Mammal Fossil Assemblages as Indicators of Environmental Change in Northern Corsica during the Last 2500 Years". Journal of Archaeological Science. 23 (2): 199–215. Transmission of pathogens by rabbits and hares could have been another factor. Survival into modern history, even as late as 1774 on the smaller island of Tavolara, has been hypothesised from the description of unknown mammals by later Sardinian authors; however, this interpretation remains dubious owing to anatomical discrepancies.
Locally extinct Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesSteppe pikaOchotona pusillaWestern Europe to KazakhstanMost recent remains dated to 9650 BCE in the Ponto-Caspian region, 9550 BCE in Boreal Europe, 9450 BCE in the British Isles, 8850 BCE in Northwestern Germany, 8750 BCE in northern Central Europe, 6050 BCE in the Carpathian Basin, the Middle Holocene in the Middle Urals,Kosintsev, P. A., & Bachura, O. P. (2014). Formation of recent ranges of mammals in the Urals during the Holocene. Biology Bulletin, 41(7), 629-637. and 1220 BCE in the Southern Urals. This species avoids human disturbance strictly and is considered an excellent indicator of the health of steppe ecosystems, as a result.Németh, A., Bárány, A., Csorba, G., Magyari, E., Pazonyi, P., & Pálfy, J. (2017). Holocene mammal extinctions in the Carpathian Basin: a review. Mammal Review, 47(1), 38-52.
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice (family Cricetidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsArmathia hamsterMesocricetus rathgeberiArmathia, GreeceKnown from subfossil remains associated with anthropogenically introduced mammalian species, such as black rats, house mice, and rabbits. It was a large species comparable to the Ciscaucasian hamster, but believed to have acquired its size by convergent evolution. Nevertheless, its endemism has been questioned, raising the possibility that it was introduced to the island by humans.Masetti, M. (2012) Atlas of terrestrial mammals of the Ionian and Aegean islands. Walter de Gruyter, 318 pages.Microtus brecciensisIberian PeninsulaMost recent remains dated to 8450 BCE.Puzachenko, A. Y., & Markova, A. K. (2019). Evolution of mammal species composition and species richness during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Europe: A general view at the regional scale. Quaternary International, 530, 88-106.Maltese voleMicrotus melitensisMaltaKnown from the Pleistocene, but might have survived into the Holocene due to humans arriving in the islands later.Pliomys coronensisWestern EuropeMost recent remains in Green Spain dated to the Holocene.Stenocranius anglicusEuropeClosely related to the living narrow-headed vole, but endemic to Europe. Most recent remains dated to 9650 BCE in the Ponto-Caspian Region, 9550 BCE in Boreal Europe, 8750 BCE in northern Central Europe, 8250 BCE in the Franco-Cantabrian region, 6050 BCE in Northwestern Germany, 5850 BCE in the Carpathian Basin, and Late Holocene in the Urals.Tyrrhenian voleTyrrhenicola henseliCorsica and SardiniaMost recent remains dated to 348 BCE - 283 CE.Vigne, Jean-Denis, Salvador Bailon, and Jacques Cuisin. "Biostratigraphy of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in Corsica and the role of man in the Holocene faunal turnover." Anthropologica 25.26 (1997): 587-604.
Old World rats and mice (family Muridae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesApodemus sp.Naxos, GreeceKnown from the Pleistocene, but might have survived into the Holocene due to humans not arriving to the island until later.Meriones malatestaeLampedusa, ItalyMus minotaurusCrete, GreeceMost recent remains at Mochlos dated to the Bronze Age. It was outcompeted and replaced by the house mouse accidentally introduced by sailors from the eastern Mediterranean.Papayiannis, K. (2012). The micromammals of Minoan Crete: Human intervention in the ecosystem of the island. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 92, 239-248.St. Kilda house mouseMus musculus muralisSt Kilda, ScotlandA commensal species, it became extinct after the removal of all human inhabitants from the island in 1930.Tyrrhenian field ratRhagamys orthodonCorsica and SardiniaMost recent remains dated to 348 BCE - 283 CE.
Dormice (family Gliridae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesMajorcan giant dormouseHypnomys morpheusGymnesian Islands, SpainMost recent remains at Escorca, Mallorca dated to 4840-4690 BCE, coinciding with the period of initial human settlement in the island. It could have succumbed to diseases carried by introduced commensal mammals.Maltese giant dormouseMaltamys wiedincitensisSicily and MaltaMarra, A. C. (2013). Evolution of endemic species, ecological interactions and geographical changes in an insular environment: A case study of Quaternary mammals of Sicily (Italy, EU). Geosciences, 3(1), 114-139.Known from the Pleistocene, but possibly reached the Holocene in Malta due to humans arriving there later.
Squirrels (family Sciuridae) Common nameScientific nameRangeComments PicturesPannonian souslikSpermophilus citelloidesCentral Europe to DobrujaMost recent remains dated to the early Holocene.Sinitsa, M. V., Virág, A., Pazonyi, P., & Knitlová, M. (2021). Redescription and phylogenetic relationships of Spermophilus citelloides (Rodentia: Sciuridae: Xerinae), a ground squirrel from the Middle Pleistocene–Holocene of Central Europe. Historical Biology, 33(1), 19-39.Spermophilus severskensisDesna River regionHighly specialised for grazing, with the narrowest range of all Pleistocene ground quirrels. The latest possible date is the Atlantic, and its extinction was probably related to the local collapse of the mammoth steppe.Spermophilus superciliosusNorth Central Europe and the British Isles to Crimea and the Middle UralsMost recent remains in north Central Europe are dated to 8750 BCE. The species was recorded even later in Ukraine, being found in Mesolithic sites of Crimea and in Holocene levels of Kostianets, on the middle Dnieper River. There is a tentative identification with unidentified "red-cheeked" squirrels recorded in the Dnieper area, the last time at the beginning of the 20th century in Dnipro.
True insectivores (order Eulipotyphla)
True shrews (family Soricidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesSardinian giant shrewAsoriculus similisCorsica and SardiniaMost recent remains dated to 348 BCE - 283 CE.Balearic giant shrewNesiotites hidalgoGymnesian Islands, SpainMost recent remains at Alcúdia dated to 3030-2690 BCE, coinciding with the period of initial human settlement in the island. It could have succumbed to diseases carried by introduced commensal mammals.Bover, P. (2011). La paleontologia de vertebrats insulars de les Balears: la contribució de les excavacions recents. Endins: publicació d'espeleologia, 299-316.
Carnivorans (order Carnivora)
Cats (family Felidae)
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesEurasian cave lionPanthera spelaeaNorthern Eurasia and BeringiaMost recent remains at Bois Ragot near Gouex, France dated to 9892-9404.Puzachenko, A. Y., Argant, A., Baryshnikov, G. F., Boeskorov, G. G., Kirillova, I. V., Klimovsky, A. I., ... & Vasiliev, S. K. (2024). Distribution history of the cave lion (Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810)). Earth History and Biodiversity, 1, 100006. Other lion remains from Italy and northern Spain could indicate that a small form survived in mountain areas until the Preboreal and Boreal, respectively.
Locally extinct