Thylacine

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Thylacine | status = EX | extinct = 1936 | image = Thylacine.jpg | image_width = 210px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Mammalia | subclassis = Marsupialia | ordo = Dasyuromorphia | familia = Thylacinidae | familia_authority = C.L. Bonaparte, 1838 | genus = Thylacinus | genus_authority = Temminck, 1827 | species = T. cynocephalus | binomial = Thylacinus cynocephalus | binomial_authority = (Harris, 1808) }}

The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a large carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. Locally, it is known as the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, and colloquially the Tassie ("tazzy") Tiger or simply the Tiger. 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.

The oldest ancestors of the Thylacine date back 23 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch in Riversleigh, Australia. Called "Dickson's Thylacine" or Nimbacinus dicksoni, this thylacinid was much smaller than its modern relatives. The largest species was Thylacinus potens from the late Miocene, which grew to the size of a wolf. In late Pleistocene and early 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-haired 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's spine changes suddenly in structure about halfway along the body.

1 Extinction
2 Diet and habitat
3 Modern research and projects
- 3.1 Cloning project
- 3.2 International Thylacine Specimen Database Project
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
- 6.1 Cloning project

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Extinction

Image:Thylacine-museum-sm.jpg Image:Thylacinus potens.jpg In Tasmania, where there were no dingos, so the Thylacine survived until the 1930s before it was wiped out by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters and, in its final years, collectors for overseas museums. The last confirmed wild Thylacine sighting was in 1932, and the last captive died in the Hobart Zoo on 1936-09-07. She is believed to have died from exposure to the cold as she was not given access to her sheltered sleeping quarters.

A short black-and-white film was made of the captive pacing back and forth in its enclosure.

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Official Searches

The results of various searches indicate the possibility of survival of the species in Tasmania into the 1960s. Searches by Dr. Eric Guiler (considered a leading authority on the species) and David Fleay in the north-west of Tasmania found possible footprint evidence and heard presumed vocalisations but no conclusive evidence of continued existence.

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Sightings

Although there is almost no doubt that the Thylacine is extinct, sightings are still occasionally claimed in both Tasmania and other parts of Australia. There have been several alleged photos to this effect, many of these believed to be fake.

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Recent claimed sightings

In 1982 a researcher with the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hans Narding at night observed what he believed to be a Thylacine for three minutes. The sighting began a year long government funded extensive search.Template:Citationneeded

In January 1995, a Parks and Wildlife officer reported observing a Thylacine in the Pyengana region of eastern Tasmania in the early hours of the morning. No trace of it was found.Template:Citationneeded

In February 2005, a German tourist claimed to have taken digital photographs of a Thylacine, but the authenticity of the photographs has not been established.Template:Citationneeded

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Rewards

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. When the offer closed at the end of June 2005 no one had produced any evidence of the animal's existence. An offer of $1.75 million has subsequently been offered by a Tasmanian tour operator, Stewart Malcolm, but this is also unclaimed.

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Diet and habitat

The Thylacine preferred to inhabit dry eucalyptus forests, wetlands, and grasslands in continental Australia. Fossils dating back 2,200 years ago and aboriginal rock paintings suggest the Wolf might have lived throughout Australia and New Guinea. It became extinct in mainland Australia about 2000 years ago due to competition from dingos.

The Tasmanian Tiger ate a variety of foods but mainly meat because it was a carnivore. It hunted at night and at dusk and dawn. Examples of such foods include wallabies, and also various small animals and birds. After European settlement the Thylacine was forced to prey upon farmers' sheep and poultry. In captivity, Thylacines were fed on dead rabbits and wallabies, which they devoured entirely, as well as beef and mutton.

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Modern research and projects

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Cloning project

The Australian Museum in Sydney began a project in 1999 reminiscent of the science fiction movie Jurassic Park. The goal was to use genetic material from specimens taken and preserved in the early 20th century to clone new individuals and restore the species from extinction. In late 2002 the researchers had some success as they were able to extract usable DNA from the specimens. On 2005-02-15, the museum announced that it was stopping the project after tests showed the specimens' DNA had been too badly degraded by the ethanol preservative.

In May 2005, Professor Michael Archer, the University of New South Wales Dean of Science, former director of the Australian Museum and evolutionary biologist, announced that the project was being restarted by a group of interested universities and a research institute.

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International Thylacine Specimen Database Project

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.

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