First Species Listed As Endangered

Federal protection of endangered species dates back to the Lacey Act of 1900, when Congress passed the first wildlife law in response to growing public concern over the decline of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). The Lacey Act prohibited interstate commerce of animals killed illegally and required the secretary of agriculture to preserve, introduce, distribute, and restore wild bird and game bird.

As public awareness of environmental problems initiated political activism in the 1960s, the Department of Interior formed a Committee on Rare and Endangered Wildlife Species to identify species in immediate danger of extinction. The Redbook on Rare and Endangered Fish and Wildlife of the United States, published in 1964, served as the first official document listing species the federal government considered to be in danger of extinction.

Two years after the Redbook list was published, Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966—the first piece of comprehensive endangered species legislation. The goal, as stated in the 1966 Act, was to "conserve, protect, restore, and propagate certain species of native fish and wildlife." It was under the 1966 Endangered Species Preservation Act that the first list of threatened and endangered (vertebrate) species was compiled:

Mammals

• Indiana Bat - Myotis sodalis
• Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger cinereus
• Timber Wolf - Canis lupus lycaon
• Red Wolf - Canis niger
• San Joaquin Kit Fox - Vulpes macrotis mutica
• Grizzly Bear - Ursus horribilis
• Black-footed Ferret - Mustela nigripes
• Florida Panther - Felis concolor coryi
• Caribbean Monk Seal - Monachus tropicalis
• Guadalupe Fur Seal - Arctocephalus philippi townsendi
• Florida Manatee or Florida Sea Cow - Trichechus manatus latirostris
• Key Deer - Odocoileus virginianus clavium
• Columbian White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus leucurus
• Sonoran Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana sonoriensis

Birds

• Hawaiian Dark-Rumped Petrel - Pterodroma phaeopygia sandwichensis
• Hawaiian Dark-rumped Petrel - Pterodroma phaeopygia sandwichensis
• Hawaiian Goose (Nene) - Branta sandvicensis
• Aleutian Canada Goose - Branta canadensis leucopareia
• Tule White-Fronted Goose - Anser albifrons gambelli
• Laysan Duck - Anas laysanensis
• Hawaiian Duck (or Koloa) - Anas wyvilliana
• Mexican Duck - Anas diazi
• California Condor - Gymnogyps californianus
• Florida Everglade Kite (Florida Snail Kite) - Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus
• Hawaiian Hawk (or Ii) - Buteo solitarius
• Southern Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus t. leucocephalus
• Attwater's Greater Prairie-Chicken - Tympanuchus cupido attwateri
• Masked Bobwhite - Colinus virginianus ridgwayi
• Whooping Crane - Grus americana
• Yuma Clapper Rail - Rallus longirostris yumanensis
• Hawaiian Common Gallinule - Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis
• Eskimo Curlew - Numenius borealis
• Puerto Rican Parrot - Amazona vittata
• American Ivory-billed Woodpecker - Campephilus p. principalis
• Hawaiian Crow (or Alala) - Corvus hawaiiensis
• Small Kauai Thrush (Puaiohi) - Phaeornia pulmeri
• Nihoa Millerbird - Acrocephalus kingi
• Kauai Oo (or Oo Aa) - Moho braccatus
• Crested Honeycreeper (or Akohekohe) - Palmeria dolei
• Akiapolaau - Hemignathus wilsoni
• Kauai Akialoa - Hemignathus procerus
• Kauai Nukupuu - Hemignathus lucidus hanapepe
• Laysan Finchbill (Laysan Finch) - Psittirostra c. cantans
• Nihoa Finchbill (Nihoa Finch) - Psittirostra cantans ultima
• Ou - Psittirostra psittacea
• Palila - Psittirostra bailleui
• Maui Parrotbill - Pseudonestor xanthophyrys
• Bachman's Warbler - Vermivora bachmanii
• Kirtland's Warbler - Dendroica kirtlandii
• Dusky Seaside Sparrow - Ammospiza nigrescens
• Cape Sable Sparrow - Ammospiza mirabilis

Reptiles and Amphibians:

• American Alligator - Alligator mississippiensis
• Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard - Crotaphytus wislizenii silus
• San Francisco Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia
• Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander - Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum
• Texas Blind Salamander - Typhlomolge rathbuni
• Black Toad, Inyo County Toad - Bufo exsul

Fishes:

• Shortnose sturgeon - Acipenser brevirostrum
• Longjaw Cisco - Coregonus alpenae
• Paiute Cutthroat Trout - Salmo clarki seleniris
• Greenback Cuttthroat Trout - Salmo clarki stomias
• Montana Westslope Cutthroat Trout - Salmo clarki
• Gila Trout - Oncorhynchus gilae
• Arizona (Apache) Trout - Oncorhynchus apache
• Desert Dace - Eremichthys acros
• Humpback Chub - Gila cypha
• Little Colorado Spinedace - Lepidomeda vittata
• Moapa Dace - Moapa coriacea
• Colorado River Squawfish - Ptychocheilus lucius
• Cui-ui - Chasmistes cujus
• Devils Hole Pupfish - Cyprinodon diabolis
• Commanche Springs Pupfish - Cyprinodon elegan
• Owens River Pupfish - Cyprinodon radiosus
• Pahrump Killifish - Empetrichythys latos
• Big Bend Gambusia - Gambusia gaigei
• Clear Creek Gambusia - Gambusia heterochir
• Gila Topminnow - Poeciliopsis occidentalis
• Maryland Darter - Etheostoma sellare
• Blue Pike - Stizostedion vitreum glaucum

View the list of the first invertebrate species to be listed as endangered or threatened.