This is a list of Madagascar and Indian Ocean Island 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) and continues to the present day.
The Republic of Madagascar is a large island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa. Other Indian Ocean islands near Madagascar include the Mascarene Islands (split between the Republic of Mauritius and the French department of Réunion), the Republic of Seychelles, and the Comoro Islands (split between the Union of Comoros and the French department of Mayotte).
Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands are a biodiversity hotspot. The wildlife of Madagascar evolved in isolation and is distinct from the wildlife of Africa and other continents. Approximately 90 percent of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic. Lemurs are endemic to the island of Madagascar.
Numerous animal species have disappeared from Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands as part of the ongoing Holocene extinction, driven by human activity. The famous dodo (Raphus cucullatus), last seen in 1662, was endemic to Mauritius. All 17 extinct lemurs were giant lemurs larger than the extant lemurs.
The subfossil remains of certain avian orders are scarce on Réunion. Consequently, a few of the extinct birds from Réunion are hypothetical species. They almost certainly existed but lack supporting subfossil remains.Hume, J. P., Göhlich, U. B., & Kroh, A. (2013). A synopsis of the pre-human avifauna of the Mascarene Islands. In Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution (pp. 195-237). Wien: Naturhistorisches Museum.
Locally extinct native species are included below, but human-introduced species that were later wiped out are not included.
Mammals (class Mammalia)
Afrosoricidans (order Afrosoricida)
Tenrecs (family Tenrecidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsMacPhee's shrew tenrecMicrogale macpheeiSoutheastern MadagascarOnly known from cave remains dated to 790-410 BCE.Goodman, S.M., Vasey, N., & Burney, D.A. (2007). Description of a new species of subfossil shrew tenrec (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae: Microgale) from cave deposits in southeastern Madagascar. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 120(4), 367-376.
Bibimalagasies (Incertae familiae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesSmaller bibymalagasyPlesiorycteropus germainepetteraeMadagascarLarger bibymalagasyPlesiorycteropus madagascariensisMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 865-965 CE.
Sea cows (order Sirenia)
Dugongs (family Dugongidae)
Locally extinct Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesDugongDugong dugongIndian Ocean to Taiwan and New CaledoniaExtinct in the Mascarene Islands.
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Nesomyids (family Nesomyidae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesBrachytarsomys mahajambaensisNorthern coast of MadagascarHypogeomys australisSoutheastern and central MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 428-618 CE. There was no range overlap with its living relative, the Malagasy giant rat.Goodman, S.M. and Rakotondravony, D. 1996. The Holocene distribution of Hypogeomys (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae) on Madagascar. Biogéographie de Madagascar 1996:283–293.Nesomys narindaensisNorthern coast of MadagascarKnown from the Pleistocene, but might have reached the Holocene due to humans arriving in the island later.
Primates (order Primates)
Aye-ayes (family Daubentoniidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsGiant aye-ayeDaubentonia robustaMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 900-1150 CE.Crowley, B. E. (2010). A refined chronology of prehistoric Madagascar and the demise of the megafauna. Quaternary Science Reviews, 29(19-20), 2591-2603.
Koala lemurs (family Megaladapidae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesMegaladapis edwardsiMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 1300-1430 CE.Megaladapis grandidieriMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 980-1170 CE.Megaladapis madagascariensisMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 1206-1427 CE.Stuart, A.J. (2021) Vanished Giants: The Lost World of the Ice Age. University of Chicago Press, 288 pages.
Lemurids (family Lemuridae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesGiant ruffed lemurPachylemur insignisSouthwestern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 890-990 CE.Giant ruffed lemurPachylemur jullyiCentral MadagascarKnown from the Pleistocene but possibly reached the Holocene due to later human arrival in the island.
Monkey lemurs (family Archaeolemuridae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesArchaeolemur edwardsiiMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 1047-1280 CE.Burney, David A., et al. "A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar." Journal of Human Evolution, 47.1-2 (2004): 25-63.Archaeolemur majoriMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 650-780 CE.Hadropithecus stenognathusMadagascarMost recent remains dated to 535-876 CE.
Sloth lemurs (family Palaeopropithecidae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesArchaeoindris fontoynontiiCentral MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 412-199 BCE.Babakotia radofilaiNorthern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 3340-2890 BCE.Mesopropithecus dolichobrachionNorthern MadagascarKnown from the Pleistocene but possibly reached the Holocene due to later human arrival in the island.Mesopropithecus globicepsSouthwestern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 245-429 CE.Mesopropithecus pithecoidesCentral MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 600-765 CE.Palaeopropithecus ingensSouthwestern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 1320-1630 CE.Palaeopropithecus kelyusNorthern MadagascarKnown from the Pleistocene but possibly reached the Holocene due to later human arrival in the island.Palaeopropithecus maximusCentral Madagascar
Bats (order Chiroptera)
Megabats (family Pteropodidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesSmall Mauritian flying foxPteropus subnigerMauritius and RéunionLast recorded in Mauritius in 1859, and in Réunion in 1862. Extinction might have been caused by hunting and deforestation.
Trident bats (family Rhinonycteridae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesTriaenops goodmaniNorthern MadagascarDescribed from three mandibles found in a cave, 10,000 years old or younger.Samonds, K.E. 2007. Late Pleistocene bat fossils from Anjohibe Cave, northwestern Madagascar. Acta Chiropterologica 9(1):39–65. The two other extant species of the genus Triaenops in Madagascar were later moved to Paratriaenops.Benda, P. and Vallo, P. 2009. Taxonomic revision of the genus Triaenops (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) with description of a new species from southern Arabia and definitions of a new genus and tribe. Folia Zoologica 58 (Monograph 1):1–45.
Old World leaf-nosed bats (family Hipposideridae) Scientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesHipposideros besaokaNorthern MadagascarKnown from numerous jawbones and isolated teeth 10,000 years old or younger.
Vesper bats (family Vespertilionidae) Possibly extinct Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesLesser yellow batScotophilus borbonicusSouthern Madagascar and RéunionLast recorded on Madagascar in 1868 and on Réunion around 1880. The causes of extinction are unknown.
Incertae familiae
Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsBory's white bathttps://www.artensterben.de/en/borys-white-bat/Boryptera albaRéunionHypothetical species known only from a 1801 description by Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent. It was a small white bat that camouflaged under the leaves of the latan palm and presumably became extinct due to deforestation and predation by introduced rats.Brial, P. (2001). Une espèce inconnue de microchiroptère observée par Bory de Saint-Vincent à l'île de la Réunion en 1801. Bulletin de la Société Geographique de la Réunion, 1(5).
Carnivorans (order Carnivora)
Malagasy carnivorans (family Eupleridae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesCryptoprocta bevatabeTsimanampesotse National Park, southwestern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to the early Holocene, before 8,300 years ago. The largest of the three fossa species, speculated to be the "black fossa" (fosa mainty) of Malagasy folklore.Giant fossaCryptoprocta speleaMadagascarMost recent remains were dated to 210 CE.Meador, L.R., et al. (2019) Cryptoprocta spelea (Carnivora: Eupleridae): what did it eat and how do we know?. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 26(2), 237-251. The species, or a folk memory may have survived for longer: Étienne de Flacourt wrote in 1658 that a leopard-like carnivore more powerful than the extant fossa, capable of killing calves and humans, could be found in remote mountain areas.Goodman, S.M. (2003). "Predation on lemurs". In Goodman, S.M.; Benstead, J.P. (eds.). The Natural History of Madagascar. University of Chicago Press. pp. 1221–1228. .Turvey, S.T. (2009). "In the shadow of the megafauna: prehistoric mammal and bird extinctions across the Holocene". In Turvey, Samuel T (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press. pp. 17–40. . . Intermediate between C. bevatabe and the living fossa, it is speculated to be the pale or off-white fossa (fosa ondry) of Malagasy folkore, while the living fossa would be the smaller red fossa (fosa mena).
Even-toed ungulates (order Artiodactyla)
Hippopotamuses (family Hippopotamidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesMalagasy hippopotamusHippopotamus laloumenaEastern and northern MadagascarMost recent remains, of questionable provenance, were dated to 1670-1950 CE; others to 414-262 BCE. A claimed witness from Belo sur Mer described a hippopotamus and imitated its call in 1976.Lemerle's dwarf hippopotamusHippopotamus lemerleiWestern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 670-836 CE.Hansford, J.P. et al. (2021). Simultaneous extinction of Madagascar's megaherbivores correlates with late Holocene human-caused landscape transformation. Quaternary Science Reviews, 263, 106996.Madagascar dwarf hippopotamusHippopotamus madagascariensisCentral Madagascar subhumid forestsMost recent remains dated to 687-880 CE.
Birds (class Aves)
Elephant birds (order Aepyornithiformes)
Greater elephant birds (family Aepyornithidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesHildebrandt's elephant birdAepyornis hildebrandtiCentral and eastern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 664-773 CE.Giant elephant birdAepyornis maximusCentral and southern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 1040-1380 CE.Hume, J.P. (2017) Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages. A 2018 study moved the largest elephant bird specimens to the genus Vorombe, but a 2023 genetic study regarded Vorombe as synonymous with Aepyornis maximus.
Lesser elephant birds (family Mullerornithidae) Common nameScientific nameRangeCommentsPicturesLesser elephant birdMullerornis modestusCentral and southern MadagascarMost recent remains dated to 680-880 CE.
Waterfowl (order Anseriformes) Ducks, geese, and swans (family Anatidae)