''Thylacinus'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of extinct carnivorous
marsupial
Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...
s in the family
Thylacinidae
Thylacinidae is an extinct family (biology), family of carnivorous marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only species to survive into modern times was the thylacine (''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), which became Extinction, extinct in 1936.
...
. The only recent member was the
thylacine
The thylacine (; binomial name ''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), also commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, was a carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmani ...
(''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), commonly also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. The last known Tasmanian tiger was in the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania, eventually dying in 1936. The earliest known member of the genus, ''
Thylacinus macknessi'' appeared during the Early Miocene, around 16 million years ago, and was smaller than the modern thylacine, with a body mass of about . ''Thylacinus'' represented the only extant genus of the family after the beginning of the Pliocene around 5 million years ago. Over time members of the genus saw an increase in body mass and a greater adaption to
hypercarnivory in their dental morphology.
A tooth referable to ''Thylacinus'' was collected from the Late Oligocene Wayne's Wok site at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, making it the oldest record of the genus.
[B. Wroe S. 2003. "Australian marsupial carnivores: recent advances in palaeontology." In: Jones M, Dickman C, Archer M, eds. ''Predators with Pouches: The Biology of Carnivorous marsupials''. Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing. 102-123]
Phylogeny
Below is a phylogeny by Yates (2015) on the relationships of ''Thylacinus''.
References
External links
Prehistoric range of the ThylacinidaeAustralian ThylacineVarious Links
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Tasmanian Tiger
Dasyuromorphs
Extinct animals of Australia
Extinct marsupials
Marsupial genera
Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck
Holocene extinctions
Pleistocene first appearances
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