The Thylacine was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. Native to continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger, It was the last extant member of its genus, Thylacinus, although several related species have been found in the fossil record dating back to the early Miocene.
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The Thylacine became extinct on the Australian mainland thousands of years before
European settlement of the continent, but it survived on the island of Tasmania along with several other endemic species, including the Tasmanian Devil. Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributory factors may have been disease, the introduction of dogs, and human encroachment into its habitat.
The Thylacine was one of only two marsupials to have a pouch in both sexes (the other is the
Water Opossum). The male Thylacine had a pouch that acted as a protective sheath, protecting the male's external reproductive organs while running through thick brush.
The modern Thylacine first appeared about 4 million years ago. Species of the Thylacinidae family date back to the beginning of the Miocene; since the early 1990s, at least seven fossil species have been uncovered at
Riversleigh, part of
Lawn Hill National Park in northwest Queensland and back to 23 million years ago.
The skulls of the Thylacine and the Timber Wolf are almost identical although the species are unrelated.
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The indigenous peoples of Australia made first contact with the Thylacine. Numerous examples of Thylacine
engravings and rock art have been found dating back to at least 1000 BC.Petroglyph images of the Thylacine can be found at the
Dampier Rock Art Precinct on the
Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia. Rock paintings from the
Kakadu National Park clearly show that Thylacines were hunted by early humans. By the time the first
explorers arrived, the animal was already rare in Tasmania. Europeans may have encountered it as far back as 1642 when Abel Tasman first arrived in Tasmania. His shore party reported seeing the footprints of "wild beasts having claws.
The Thylacine was a nocturnal and crepuscular hunter, spending the daylight hours in small caves or hollow tree trunks in a nest of twigs, bark or fern fronds. It tended to retreat to the hills and forest for shelter during the day and hunted in the open heath at night. Early observers noted that the animal was typically shy and secretive, with awareness of the presence of humans and generally avoiding contact, though it occasionally showed inquisitive traits.
There is evidence for at least some year-round breeding (cull records show joeys discovered in the pouch at all times of the year), although the peak breeding season was in winter and spring. They would produce up to four cubs per litter (typically two or three), carrying the
young in a pouch for up to three months and protecting them until they were at least half adult size. Early pouch
young were hairless and blind, but they had their eyes open and were fully furred by the time they left the pouch. After leaving the pouch, and until they were developed enough to assist, the juveniles would remain in the lair while the female hunted.Thylacines only once bred successfully in captivity, in
Melbourne Zoo in 1899. Their life expectancy in the wild is estimated to have been 5 to 7 years, although captive specimens survived up to 9 years.Although long extinct on the Australian mainland by the time the European settlers arrived, the Thylacine survived into the 1930s in Tasmania. At the time of the first settlement, the heaviest distributions were in the northeast, northwest and north-midland regions. From the early days of
European settlement they were rarely sighted but slowly began to be credited with numerous attacks on sheep. This led to the establishment of bounty schemes in an attempt to control their numbers. The Van Diemen's Land Company introduced bounties on the Thylacine from as early as 1830, and between 1888 and 1909 the Tasmanian government paid £1 per head for the animal.
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The last known specimen in captivity referred to as "Benjamin" was captured in 1933 and sent to the
Hobart Zoo where it lived for three years and died in captivity in 1936
.