Recently Extinct Animals - Species Info

Thylacinus cynocephalus		HOME

Kingdom	Animalia	A pair of Tasmanian tigers that lived at the US National Zoological Park in Washington DC from 1902 to 1905. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the European Union, Canada, the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Dasyuromorphia
Family	Thylacinidae
Genus	Thylacinus
Species	Thylacinus cynocephalus
Authority	(Harris, 1808)

English Name	Tasmanian Tiger, Tasmanian Wolf, Thylacine, Marsupial Wolf
Danish Name	Pungulv
Dutch Name	Tasmaanse Buidelwolf
French Name	Loup marsupial
German Name	Beutelwolf, Tasmanischer Tiger, Beutelhyäne
Italian Name	Tigre della Tasmania, Lupo della Tasmania
Spanish Name	Tigre de Tasmania, Lobo de Tasmania
Swedish Name	Pungvarg

Comments	The Tasmanian Aboriginals called the Tasmanian Tiger coorinna, loarinna, laoonana, or lagunta. These native names did not achieve any popular usage and disappeared with the extinction of the Tasmanian Aborigines. G.P. Harris, who authored the scientific description of the Tasmanian tiger, focused on the structure of the animal's head and in April, 1807 named the species Didelphis cynocephala, which translates to "dog-headed opossum". The Parisian zoologist E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, in 1809, assigned the Tasmanian tiger to the genus Dasyurus along with the marsupial "martens" (quolls). Unsatisfied with this classification, Conrad Jacob Temminck created (in 1827) (or 1824 according to some references) the genus name that we use today, Thylacinus. The species established by G.P. Harris (cynocephalus) remains valid.

Characteristics	The Tasmanian tiger or Thylacine was by far the largest carnivorous marsupial of recent times. Its overall appearance is very canid-like. Total body length is around 1 meter. The tail length is around 50-65 cm. The tail itself is very thick close to the body and quickly tapers to a point. It is around 60 cm in height at the shoulder. The upper body is brownish/grey with a pale underside. There are 13-19 black vertical stripes that run from the mid-back to the base of the tail. The face is grey with white markings around the eyes. The fur is short and thick. Their skull has a length of 22 cm and the dental formula is: i 4/3, c 1/1, pm 3/3, m 4/4. Tasmanian tiger's long canines, shearing premolars, and grinding molars, all of which are quite similar to those of dogs. The feet are padded and leave a five-toed print. The females pouch is located by her tail and has a fold of skin covering the four mammae.

Lifestyle	The Tasmanian tiger was a nocturnal species, but was often observed basking in the sun. It hunted alone or in small groups. There is a controversy over the Tasmanian tiger's hunting technique. Some think that the Tasmanian tiger was an ambush hunter that relied on stealth while others think the Tasmanian tiger would tirelessly chase its prey until the target was exhausted, when it would rush in for the kill. The Tasmanian tiger had many different calls, including a rough bark while hunting, deep growl when irritated, and a whine.

Range & Habitat	In recent times the Tasmanian tiger lived on the Australian island of Tasmania. The Tasmanian tiger preferred open forests and open grasslands, but by the end of its existence it was confined to dense rainforests by human pressures Tasmanian tiger lairs were located mainly in hollow logs or rock outcroppings located in hilly areas that were adjacent to open areas, such as grasslands.

Food	The food habits of the Tasmanian tiger are not well known. Its diet is thought to have consisted of wallabies, kangaroos, small birds, and other small mammals.

Reproduction	The breeding season is thought to have taken place in the fall. Births occurred continuously throughout the year, but were concentrated in the summer months (December-March). It is believed that the young (usually 2-4) stayed in the pouch for 3 months and remained with the mother for another 6 months.

History & Population	Tasmanian tigers lived only on the island of Tasmania in recent history, but fossil record shows that it was also found in New Guinea and Australia as recently as 3000 years ago. Competition with dogs brought by aborigines eliminated it in Australia and New Guinea. These dogs ran wild, becoming the dingo, which entirely filled its niche. A large population survived on Tasmania, where there are no dingoes. But when the Europeans arrived and settled in Australia and Tasmania the Tasmanian tiger was thought to be a livestock killer, especially when sheep were introduced in 1824. This was never substantiated, but because of this misconception the privet sector and the government hunted the Tasmanian tiger from 1830-1909 for bounty. In 1830, the Van Diemens Land Company, a pastoral company in Northwest Tasmania, introduces the first bounty on the Tasmanian tiger, claiming that the animal attacked sheep. In 1880, the Tasmanian Parliament placed a price of one pound per Tasmanian tiger scalp. In 1909, the government bounty scheme was terminated. Between 1888 and 1909 a total of 2184 bounties were paid. The actual number of killed Tasmanian tigers must have been even higher. The animal became very rare, due to hunting, habitat destruction, disease, and competition with domesticated dogs. The last known alive, named Benjamin, was trapped in Florentine Valley in 1933 and sold to the Hobart Zoo, where it died in captivity on the 7th September 1936. The day-shift keeper forgets to lock the Tasmanian tiger up in its hut and it dies of exposure. Tasmanian law did not protect the Tasmanian tiger until 1936, the same year of their extinction. So it was too late! Since then there have been many unsuccessful searches of the remaining area where the Tasmanian tiger could have survived undetected by humans. A 647000 ha. Reserve was set up in 1966 in Southwestern Tasmania in the hopes that possible surviving Tasmanian wolves would have adequate habitat. The Tasmanian tiger has never been officially or reliably sighted since the last one died in 1936. The Tasmanian tiger was officially declared extinct by international standards in 1986. Is the Tasmanian tiger still alive? Villagers in Indonesia Irian Jaya province claim to have found a Tasmanian tiger living in the hills around the Indonesian - Papua New Guinea border, the Antara News Agency reported in 1997. Local people of New Guinea still claim that the Tasmanian tiger lives there. The descriptions they give are the right characteristics of the Tasmanian tiger. Recent surveys haven't shown any results yet. It is possible, because the Tasmanian tiger has lived there, but it was considered extinct there for a long time. The hope is still there!

Extinction Causes	The Tasmanian Tiger died out on the Australian mainland and New Guinea due to the competition of the dingo that was brought there by the aborigines. The last remaining population on Tasmania declines after the arrival of the Europeans, and finally died out, due to extensive (bounty) hunting, habitat destruction, disease, and competition with domesticated dogs.

Conservation Attempts	Tasmanian law did not protect the Tasmanian tiger until 1936, the same year of their extinction. A 647,000 hectare sanctuary was created in southwestern Tasmania in 1966 in the hope that if any Tasmanian tiger persist there, they can at least live an unpressured existence, and perhaps even breed. Legal protection came too late for the Tasmanian tiger, as it was not granted until 1936. It is classified as endangered by the IUCN (1972) and the USDI (1980). The species is also registered on appendix I of the CITES listing, however, the Australian government has suggested its removal since the general attitude is that the species is now extinct.

Cloning	Extinction may not be forever after all; so hope the Australian scientists behind an ambitious project to clone the extinct Tasmanian tiger. The project to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction began in 1999 when Australian Museum scientists extracted DNA from an ethanol-preserved female pup in its collection. In 2001, further DNA was extracted from two other preserved pups; the tissue source for the DNA was bone, tooth, bone marrow, and dried muscle. Dr. Mike Archer, director of the Australian Museum, said the alcohol-preserved female pup's DNA had given the scientists the Tasmanian tiger's X chromosome and the other samples the male Y chromosome. On 28 May 2002, the scientists from the Australian Museum in Sydney announced a breakthrough in efforts to clone the extinct Tasmanian wolf, saying they had replicated some of the animal's genes using a process called PCR (polymerase chain reaction). These PCR's show that short fragments of the DNA are undamaged and undoubtedly Tasmanian Tiger DNA, and that there is no reason why these should not work in a living cell. The next stage is to make large quantity copies of all the genes of the Tasmanian tiger so these can be used to construct synthetic chromosomes. The scientists said they hoped to clone a Tasmanian tiger in 10 years if they were successful in constructing large quantities of all the genes of the Tasmanian tiger and sequencing sections of the genome to create a genetic library of Tasmanian tiger DNA. But Dr. Mike Archer said the technology for the final stage of cloning, putting the Tasmanian tiger's genetic material into a Tasmanian devil host cell which has been stripped of the devil's genetic material was still to be developed. "We don't know the length of this journey. It's up to the speed with which technology keeps pace with the vision. But I am optimistic," he said. The ultimate aim of this project was to clone a viable reproducing population of Tasmanian tigers in the wild. On 15th February 2005 sad news appeared. The resurrection of the Tasmanian tiger will have to wait. After five years trying to extract DNA from preserved Tasmanian tigers in an effort to bring the lost marsupial back to life, the Australian Museum has abandoned the ambitious project, after finding its supply of Tasmanian tiger DNA too degraded. The museum said it lacked the skills and facilities to continue the project. Professor Archer, now the dean of science at the University of New South Wales, says the cloning project has lost steam since he left the museum in 2003. In a statement to ABC Science Online, Professor Archer says he is disappointed by the museum's decision but he says he still hopes it might be possible to bring the Tasmanian tiger back to life. "I and other colleagues remain interested in the project and I don't think that it will simply die because the museum can't proceed," he says. "The technology to make it happen is improving all the time. And I believe science has a duty to continue to assemble the building blocks that will be needed to do it."

Museum Specimens	Preserved specimens of the Tasmanian Tiger can be found in museums all over the world. For example in the Natuurhistorisch Museum 'Naturalis' in Leiden (the Netherlands), Rosensteinmuseum in Stuttgart (Germany), Australian Museum in Sydney (Australia), Melbourne Museum (Australia), and many more! Photo: a Tasmanian tiger in the Rosensteinmuseum in Stuttgart, Germany. Copyright and courtesy by Sordes. All rights reserved.

Relatives	This animal was the last living species of the genus Thylacinus. One prehistoric species of this genus was e.g. Thylacinus potens.

Links	Australian museum drops bid to clone extinct Tasmanian "tiger" Museum Won't Clone Tasmanian Tiger Museum ditches thylacine cloning project Thylacine cloning project dumped The rebirth of the Tasmanian tiger - 8/6/2000 - ENN.com Extinct Tasmanian tiger one step closer to cloning - 5/29/2002 - ENN.com CNN.com - Cloning to revive extinct species - May 28, 2002. Australian Museum Online. The Thylacine Museum - A natural history of the Thylacinidae.
Last updated: 6^th November 2005. This page is a part of The Extinction Website. © 2000-2009.