Thylacine

The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also known as the Tasmanian Tiger or the Tasmanian Wolf, was a large carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. Although 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 unrelated placental carnivores), 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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In late Pleistocene and pearly Holocene times, the Thylacine was widespread on the mainland. After traders from the islands to the north of the continent introduced the Dingo about five thousand years ago, the Thylacine was unable to compete and the population began to shrink. It is uncertain when the last mainland Thylacine died, but it may not have been until about a thousand years ago.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Thylacine resembled a large, short-haireded dog with a stiff tail, which smoothly extended from the body like that of a kangaroo. It was about 100 to 130 cm long including its tail of about 50 to 65 cm, and had a very large gape. It was a yellowish-brown in colour with sixteen to eighteen dark stripes on its back and rump, hence its common name: "Tasmanian tiger." The Thylacine's pouch opened to the rear of its body and the thylacine spine changes suddenly in structure about halfway along the body.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carnivorous: REDIRECT carnivore...

Continent: A continent (Latin continere, "to hold together") is a large continuous land mass. There are several conceptions of what a continent is, geographic, geologic, and tectonic....

Tiger: Tigers (Panthera tigris) are mammals of the Felidae family and one of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus. They are predatory carnivores and the largest of all cats, living or extinct....