The marsupial wolf, scientifically known as Thylacinus cynocephalus, was a carnivorous marsupial that once roamed the Australian continent. Often called the Thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, this enigmatic creature had a striking appearance. Its history and eventual disappearance are a compelling narrative in the history of Australia’s wildlife.
Distinctive Traits of the Marsupial Wolf
The Thylacine’s physical appearance earned it various common names. It had a lean, athletic body covered in sandy yellowish-brown to gray fur, marked by 15-20 distinct dark stripes across its back from shoulders to tail. Its head resembled a dog’s, leading to its scientific name Thylacinus cynocephalus, meaning “dog-headed pouched one”.
Despite its canid-like skull and body form, the Thylacine was a marsupial, unrelated to placental mammals like true dogs or wolves. This resemblance is a classic example of convergent evolution, where distantly related species develop similar traits due to adapting to comparable ecological roles. The Thylacine could open its powerful jaws up to 80 degrees, a capability documented in historical film.
Its pouch was a defining marsupial characteristic, present in both sexes. Females used their rear-opening pouch for rearing their two to four hairless young. Males had a smaller, unique scrotal pouch, allowing them to retract their reproductive organs for protection. Its tail was stiff and tapered, with fused vertebrae that restricted full movement, and its jaws contained 46 teeth.
Habitat and Behavior
The Thylacine historically ranged across the Australian mainland, New Guinea, and Tasmania. Fossil evidence and Indigenous Australian rock paintings confirm its widespread distribution before European settlement. On mainland Australia and New Guinea, the species vanished around 3,600–3,200 years ago, likely due to competition with introduced dingoes.
In Tasmania, the Thylacine persisted, preferring dry eucalyptus forests, grasslands, and coastal scrublands. It was primarily nocturnal or semi-nocturnal, active during twilight hours, resting in caves or dense vegetation during the day. Despite its ferocious appearance, the Thylacine was described as timid and shy, often avoiding human contact.
The marsupial wolf was an ambush predator, hunting alone or in pairs for small to medium-sized prey. Its diet included kangaroos, wallabies, small birds, and other small mammals. Despite powerful jaws, studies indicate its bite force was insufficient to kill large prey like sheep, contrary to historical perceptions. The Thylacine moved with a stiff, shuffling gait, distinguishing its locomotion from more cursorial canids.
The Path to Extinction
The demise of the Thylacine is primarily attributed to intensive human hunting, particularly in Tasmania. European settlers, arriving in the early 1800s, perceived the Thylacine as a threat to their introduced livestock, especially sheep. This perception, despite evidence that feral dogs and mismanagement caused more stock losses, led to bounty systems.
The Tasmanian government introduced a bounty program in 1888, offering £1 for each adult Thylacine killed and 10 shillings for a juvenile. The program, lasting until 1909, resulted in over 2,180 bounties paid, with estimates suggesting at least 3,500 Thylacines were killed by hunters between 1830 and the 1920s. This relentless persecution decimated the population.
Other factors compounded the decline, including extensive habitat loss due to agricultural expansion and land clearing. Competition with introduced species, like wild dogs, also played a role, particularly on the mainland where dingoes were implicated in the Thylacine’s earlier extinction. A distemper-like disease, possibly introduced by humans, also affected both captive and wild populations, contributing to their vulnerability.
The last known wild Thylacine was reportedly shot in 1930, and sightings became extremely rare by the mid-1930s. Despite a belated effort to grant the species protected status in July 1936, the last known individual, named Benjamin, died from exposure at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart on September 7, 1936. The Thylacine was officially declared extinct in 1986, serving as a reminder of the consequences of human impact on ecosystems.