The Red List of Threatened Species, compiled by the World Conservation Union, IUCN, now includes 41,415 species, 16,306 of them threatened with extinction, up 88 on last year.
The Yangtze River Dolphin, or baiji, has been listed as "critically endangered (possibly extinct)."
Environmentalists reacted to the survey with alarm. "We’re at code red," said Mark Wright, chief scientist at green group WWF-UK.
"The plight of the world’s species is a mirror on the state of the planet. Species are under enormous pressure as we systematically destroy their habitat or over-exploit them for our increasingly demanding lifestyles."
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