Interesting Thylacine Facts:
Commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf of Australia.
The largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times.
Thylacines could hop like kangaroos. When startled, Thylacines briefly hopped on their two hind legs, and eyewitnesses attest that they moved stiffly and clumsily at high speeds.
One of only two marsupials to have a pouch in both sexes (males had a pouch that acted as a protective sheath, covering external reproductive organs while running through the thick brush.
Likely to have become near-extinct in mainland Australia about 2,000 years ago, and possibly earlier in New Guinea. The absolute extinction is attributed to competition from indigenous humans and invasive dingoes.
Although the thylacine had been close to extinction on mainland Australia by the time of European settlement, and went extinct there some time in the nineteenth century, it survived into the 1930s on the island state of Tasmania. They were rarely sighted during this time 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.
By 1936 they were declared extinct as the last known thylacine died in captivity.
The thylacine is a candidate for cloning and other molecular science projects due to its recent demise and the existence of several well preserved specimens.
Sources: 1, 2, 3. | Watch video footage of it here.
