This research evaluates systematically the recovery of tropical amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal diversity (i.e. species richness, species composition, functional groups) during secondary forest succession in the Pantropical region. A meta-analysis of the standardized response ratio for species richness and species composition similarity were used to evaluate differences between three secondary successional stages and reference old growth forest. The meta-analysis was based on 72 studies of species richness and 65 studies of species composition similarity. We extracted the prediction interval of the time to reach 90% species composition similarity with reference sites, independently for amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The relative richness of functional groups was compared among successional stages for tropical moist forest birds and mammals. Species richness of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals varied among groups, but recovered to reference values sooner than species composition similarity. Birds recovered 90% species composition similarity with a reference old-growth forest in approximately 36 years, which was much faster than the other vertebrate groups, possibly due to their higher dispersal ability. Although species composition of tropical moist forest birds and mammals varied through succession, there was little change in the relative richness of functional groups. Because vertebrate groups vary in natural history characteristics (e.g. dispersal ability), it is important to study their patterns of recovery separately. Furthermore, even though species richness and functional diversity seem to recovery relatively rapidly during secondary succession, the slow recovery of species composition highlights the need to protect old-growth forest. As future studies accumulate more late successional sites, we will improve the description of patterns of vertebrate recovery in the tropics.