An Australian marsupial, probably extinct since the 1930s; length, up to 1·6 m/5¼ ft; dog-like, with long thick tail; sandy brown with dark vertical stripes over back and hindquarters; could sit upright on hind legs and tail like a kangaroo; female with short backward-facing pouch covering four teats; when last known, was nocturnal in the Tasmanian mountains; ate wallabies, smaller marsupials, birds, and (since European settlement) sheep; also known as the Tasmanian wolf or tiger. (Family: Thylacinidae.)
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Thylacinus cynocephalus (Harris, 1808) |
The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is a large carnivorous marsupial native to Australia which is thought to have gone extinct in the 20th century.
Although it is only one of many Australian mammals to have become extinct following European settlement of the continent, it is the largest and by far the most famous.
Like the tigers and wolves of other continents (both placental carnivores and therefore not closely related to the marsupial Thylacine), the Thylacine was a top-level predator, and in size and general form quite closely resembled the Northern Hemisphere predators it was originally named after.
Taxonomy and evolution
Fossils of Dickson's Thylacine (Nimbacinus dicksoni), the oldest ancestor of the Thylacine, found in Riversleigh, Australia date back 23 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch.
Discovery
First contact with the Thylacine was made by Indigenous people across the continent of Australia.
Physical description
Physical descriptions of the Thylacine vary since the first sighting of the animal.
Comparisons
The Thylacine resembled a large, short-haired dog with a stiff tail, which smoothly extended from the body like that of a kangaroo. (Guiler)
Size and characteristics
The mature Thylacine ranged from 100 to 130 cm long, including a tail of about 50 to 65 cm.
Like other marsupials, the Thylacine had a pouch, but unlike many other marsupials, the pouch opened to the rear of its body.
One unusual feature of the Thylacine was the ability to open its jaws to a surprising extent.
Thylacines footprints can be distinguished from other animals. (Guiler)
Like their relative the Tasmanian Devil, the tiger is believed to have possessed an acute sense of smell which enabled it to track prey for many miles.
Those that saw the animal in the wild are said to have described it having a strong and distinctive smell.
Motion and vocalisations
The Thylacine was often observed as having a stiff and somewhat awkward gait, making it unable to run at high speed. Although there are no recordings of the Thylacine's vocalisations, observers of the animal in captivity noted that the animal would growl when angry and emit a series of rapidly repeated guturral cough like barks (often described as a "yip-yap" or "cay-yip" sound) during hunting.
Ecology and behaviour
Surprisingly little is known about the behaviour or habitat of the Thylacine.
It is said that the Thylacine preferred to inhabit dry eucalyptus forests, wetlands, and grasslands in continental Australia. Fossils dating back 2,200 years ago and Indigenous rock paintings indicate that the Thylacine lived throughout mainland Australia and New Guinea.
Scientists generally believe it became extinct in mainland Australia about 2000 years ago (and possibly earlier in New Guinea) attributed to competition from invasive Dingos.
Tasmania
In Tasmania it preferred the woodlands of the midlands and coastal heath, which became the primary focus of British settlers seeking grazing properties for their cattle.
Early observers noted that the animal was typically shy and secretive, with an awareness of the presence of humans and generally avoiding contact, although the animal was noted to sometimes show inquisitive traits.
Like the Tasmanian Devil and its marsupial prey, the Thylacine was a nocturnal and crepuscular hunter, spending the days in a nest of twigs and bark in small caves or hollow tree trunks.
The animal had a typical home range of between 40-80 square kilometres.
Diet
The Tasmanian Tiger ate a variety of foods but mainly meat because it was a carnivore.
Prey included kangaroos, wallabies, birds and various small animals such as wombats and possums. Guiler notes that a favourite prey may have been the once extensive Tasmanian Emu, a large flightless bird which shared the habitat of the Thylacine and hunted to extinction in 1850 by Europeans, possibly coinciding with a decline in Thylacine numbers. Both Dingos and foxes have been noted to hunt the emu on the mainland and some go further to postulate that the mature Thylacine's jaw and bipedal hop were specialised for hunting the emu and either breaking its neck or severing the jugular vein.
After European settlement the Thylacine was believed to have also opportunistically preyed upon farmers' sheep and poultry.
Extinction
In Tasmania, where there were no Dingos, the Thylacine survived until the 1930s before it went extinct in captivity.
In any case, the animal had become extremely rare in the wild by the late 1920s. In 1928, the Tasmanian Advisory Committee for Native Fauna had recommended a reserve to protect any remaining Thylacines, with potential sites of suitable habitat including the Arthur-Pieman area of western Tasmania.
Farmer Wilf Batty shot and photographed the last known wild Thylacine (believed to be a male) in 1930 in Mawbanna, in the North East of the state.
The last captive Thylacine, captured in 1933 and referred to as Benjamin (although it was most probably a female specimen) later died in the Hobart Zoo on 1936-09-07 (now known as Threatened Species Day in Australia).
Official protection of the species by the Tasmanian government was belatedly introduced in 1938.
The results of various subsequent searches indicate a strong possibility of survival of the species in Tasmania into the 1960s.
The Thylacine held the status of "endangered species" until 1986, when it was declared extinct by international standards. Since no definitive proof of the thylacine exists since "Benjamin" died on September 7, 1936, the thylacine sadly now met that official criteria.
Sightings (unconfirmed)
Although the Thylacine is formally extinct, many people believe the animal still exists. Thylacine researchers Buck and Joan Emburg of Tasmania report 360 Tasmanian and 269 mainland post-extinction 20th century sightings whilst the Australian Rare Fauna Research Association reports 3800 mainland sightings on file
Of the mainland sightings, by far the most frequent, along with the Gippsland phantom cat, are in the Gippsland region of southern Victoria.
In contrast, sightings of the Red Fox (first introduced as early as 1864 and later around 2000) in Tasmania are taken very seriously.
Despite many sightings being instantly dismissed, some alleged sightings have generated a large amount of publicity. In 1982 a researcher with the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hans Narding, observed at night what he believed to be a Thylacine for three minutes at a site near Arthur River in the state's North West.
In January 1995, a Parks and Wildlife officer reported observing a Thylacine in the Pyengana region of North Eastern Tasmania in the early hours of the morning.
In 1997, it was reported that locals and missionaries near Mount Cartenz in Irian Jaya (where dingoes are now rare if not extinct), had sighted thylacines and had known about about them for many years but had not made an official report, initiating a full investigation. The local people reported that animals resembling the Thylacine was raiding their livestock.
In February 2005 Klaus Emmerichs, a German tourist, claimed to have taken digital photographs of a Thylacine he saw near the Lake St Clair National Park, but the authenticity of the photographs has not been established.
Rewards
In 1984, Ted Turner offered a $100,000 reward for proof of the continued existence of the Thylacine.
In March 2005, Australian news magazine The Bulletin, as part of its 125th anniversary, offered a $1.25 million reward for the safe capture of a live Thylacine.
Modern research and projects
Cloning project
The Australian Museum in Sydney began a project in 1999 reminiscent of the science fiction movie Jurassic Park.
The International Thylacine Specimen Database (ITSD) was completed in April 2005 and is the culmination of a four year research project to catalogue and digitally photograph, if possible, all the known surviving specimen material held within museum, university and private collections of the Thylacine.
Cultural references
The Thylacine has been used extensively as a symbol of Tasmania.
The plight of the Thylacine was featured in a campaign for The Wilderness Society titled we used to hunt Thylacines.
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