Extinct Reptiles

To the list of recently extinct reptiles

Extinct reptiles: Data & facts (as of 10/2025)

The Red List of the global conservation organization IUCN currently lists 32 reptile species as extinct, yet it is very likely that far more species have disappeared. An unknown number of reptile species have not been recorded for decades because, for instance, their natural habitat was destroyed by various factors. Among the 432 species listed as “critically endangered” reptile species, it must be assumed that some have already vanished forever. And more than 1,500 species have not even been assessed—meaning they have not yet made it onto the IUCN list at all.

The 32 globally extinct reptile species recorded by the IUCN are divided into 8 turtle species (Testudines) and 24 scaled reptiles (Squamata). Among the scaled reptiles are: skinks and skink-like species (9), geckos and gecko-like species (3), iguanas and iguana-like species (4), snakes and snake-like species (5), ameivas (2), and one African plated lizard (Gerrhosauridae).

The end of the giant tortoises

The main causes of reptile extinction from the year 1500 onwards—or from the European colonization of many parts of the world—also apply to all other vertebrate classes: the intentional or unintentional introduction of non-native species, the destruction of natural habitats, and hunting by humans.

The most famous example of exterminated reptiles is probably the giant tortoises. Various tortoise species inhabited different islands of the Mascarene island chain in the Indian Ocean and the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific. Four of the Galápagos species are now extinct (such as the Rábida giant tortoise in 1906), and of the five endemic giant tortoises on the Mascarenes, none survive today: the Rodrigues giant tortoise disappeared in 1802, for example, the Mauritius saddleback giant tortoise by 1844 at the latest, and the Réunion giant tortoise in 1840.

The main reason for the disappearance of these giant tortoises was the systematic slaughter by Europeans, who settled Rodrigues at the end of the 17th century and Réunion and Mauritius in the mid-17th century. The dead tortoises served as food for humans and for pigs brought to the islands. The new settlers also burned the tortoises to extract fat and oil from them. In addition, they deforested the islands, which led to the extinction of other animal species, such as the dodo.

Extinct reptiles mostly lived on islands

Like the extinct birds, nearly all extinct reptiles lived on islands—one of the few exceptions is the Viesca mud turtle, a freshwater turtle from Mexico that was discovered in 1961 and last sighted in 1970. It probably disappeared due to the pollution of the waters in which it lived and because its habitat has largely dried up today.

The once largest gecko in the world lived in New Caledonia—Delcourt’s giant gecko. It is known from only a single 60-centimeter-long specimen and probably went extinct in the mid-19th century because rats introduced to New Caledonia preyed on its young and humans diminished its habitat through deforestation. For similar reasons, the Tonga ground skink disappeared from the Tonga archipelago in the South Pacific in the early 19th century.

Many reptiles known from only one specimen or missing

In fact, many of the extinct reptiles are known from only one specimen or a few specimens. These include the Antigua curlytail lizard, which was described based on bone fragments and disappeared in the 15th century or much later. And the Mauritius giant skink is known only from subfossil material and probably went extinct around 1500.

Many other species now considered extinct have been missing for many years, and one can only assume that they no longer exist. The Rodrigues giant day gecko for example was last sighted in 1841, the Jamaican giant galliwasp, native to Jamaica, in 1851, the Cape Verde giant skink in 1912, the Martinique giant ameiva, a lizard from the whiptail family, in 1928, the Jamaican racer in the 1940s, and the Round Island burrowing boa was last recorded in 1975.

The most recently officially extinct reptile species is the Christmas Island forest skink, which disappeared from Australia’s Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean in 2014. Here, too, introduced animals—mostly cats, rats, mongooses, and pigs—and the loss of its habitat due to urbanization were the causes of its extinction.

Detail pages are available for the following reptiles:

• Antiguan curly-tailed lizard
• Cape Verde Giant Skink
• Delcourt’s Giant Gecko
• Guadeloupe ameiva—isolation, colonization & the end of an island species
• Jamaican giant galliwasp
• Jamaican racer
• Tongan Ground Skink