Thylacine
Tagged: animal, animals, bird, cat, dog, mammalThylacinus cynocephalus
The thylacine was a large animal with bold strides. The photograph (top) shows the last thylacine in captivity, which died in 1936. No specimens, alive or freshly dead, have been obtained since then, but reported sightings are investigated seriously. The thylacine-a marsupial-was once prevalent across Australia and Tasmania. Today it seems that domestic dogs and other introduced animals have outcompeted the species. It was also persecuted by farmers and is now probably extinct, although there are continued reports of sightings. The thylacine appears to have been an unsuccessful evolutionary experiment. The largest marsupial carnivore of recent times, it was a surprisingly clumsy and rather slow-moving creature, ill equipped to be a predator. It is said to have stalked its prey at night or run after wallabies until they got tired and could be killed. Its jaws were longer than a dog’s, and it had more teeth, but they were probably unable to deliver a strong bite. The thylacine has no close relatives. Once placental mammals such as dingoes and, later, foxes and domestic dogs and cats reached Australia, the thylacine was forced to compete with these more efficient hunters and killers. It swiftly disappeared from its former wide range, although there were many reports of sightings on the mainland of Australia, even into the early 20th century.
Forced into Island Isolation
By about 1910 all remaining thylacines were confined to Tasmania, an island that initially lacked competing carnivores. The arrival of Europeans brought about a period of large-scale change to the habitat and to the species profile of the island. Once sheep farming began there, the thylacine was considered to be a serious pest, having a reputation as a livestock killer, particularly of sheep and hens. From about 1840 farmers killed them in large numbers; by about 1860 they had disappeared from the lowlands, surviving only in the more inaccessible mountain forests.
Government-Sponsored Extinction
From 1888 the killing was further encouraged by the Australian government, which offered payments for dead thylacines. Records show that rewards were paid for over 2,000 thylacines during a 20-year period, and many more must have died unrecorded. Most were shot or snared, but many were also poisoned. The species rapidly vanished from Tasmania, perhaps hastened into extinction by a disease that swept through other species of carnivorous marsupials, sharply reducing their numbers. The thylacine was given legal protection in 1936, but by then was probably already extinct in the wild. The last wild thylacine was captured in 1933 and lived alone in Hobart Zoo, Tasmania, where it died in 1936. There have been many reports of sightings since then, even on the Australian mainland. However, many searches-including a major venture in 1980 have failed to produce any concrete evidence that the thylacine is still alive. Photographs (that may be of another species, or even complete fakes) appear in newspapers from time to time. A mummified thylacine body was found in a cave in 1949, but there is still disagreement over whether it had died recently or many centuries previously. In 1985 some color photographs and casts of footprints were obtained in Western Australia, but their authenticity has been questioned. Nevertheless, such reports offer the tantalizing possibility that one day a living thylacine might materialize. In Tasmania a large area of the animal’s former habitat has been set aside as a protected reserve just in case any have survived. It has also been suggested that it might be possible to recreate a thylacine by cloning genetic material (DNA) obtained from a museum specimen. The idea is often proposed for various types of extinct animals, including dinosaurs. However, much depends on how well preserved the DNA is, and whether it is still intact. If more than a few years old, DNA is unlikely to be suitable. The chances of success are greater if it has been preserved by refrigeration or in an appropriate chemical.
DATA PANEL
Thylacine (Tasmanian wolf, Tasmanian tiger, marsupial wolf)
Thylacinus cynocephalus
- Family: Thylacinidae (but often considered a member of the Dasyuridae)
- World population: 0 (Extinct)
- Distribution: Formerly mainland Australia and Tasmania
- Form: Resembles a heavy, sandyÂcolored dog, with bold black stripes across its haunches. Long, stiff tail
- Habitat: Open woodland
- Size: Length head/body: 35-50 in (90-130 cm); tail: 20-25 in (50-65 cm); height to shoulder: 14-24 in (35-b0 cm); males larger than females. Weight: up to about 40 Ib (18 kg)
- Diet: Small wallabies and kangaroos; probably also smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles
- Breeding: Two to 3 young born mainly December-March. Rear-facing pouch housing 4 nipples. Life span in wild unknown; 13 years in captivity
- Related endangered species: No close relatives
[...] Thylacine [...]