Thylacinidae is an extinct

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of carnivorous, superficially dog-like

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

s from the order

Dasyuromorphia Dasyuromorphia (, meaning "hairy tail" in Greek) is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the thylacine. In Australia, the exceptions include the omn ...

. The only species to survive into modern times was the

thylacine The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasman ...

(''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), which became

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

in 1936. The consensus on placement of the family is with the

order, with agreement on the divergence this family and the

Dasyuridae The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

, represented by the extant quolls and Tasmanian devil ''

Sarcophilus harrisii The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

'', remaining under consideration. The thylacinid family was represented by two species in a synonymy published in 1982, the recently extinct Tasmanian tiger and the species ''

Thylacinus potens ''Thylacinus potens'' ("powerful pouched dog") was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae, originally known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene locality near Alice Springs, Nor ...

'', known by fossil material. Discoveries of new material, especially in well researched fossil depositions at the

Riversleigh World Heritage Area Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located ne ...

, revealed a diverse array of genera and families existing during Miocene epoch. The dentition of specimens and some largely complete crania showed the development of specialist predators capable of hunting and consuming a range of vertebrate species, and like other mammalian predators, such as the canid family, could include herbivores larger than themselves. An assessment of the size range of the species has provided evidence of animals occupying a greater number of

trophic level The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web. A food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten themselves. The trophic level of an organism is the number of steps it i ...

s and challenged the conception of the dominance of reptilians as large hyper-carnivorous predators on the Australia continent. The consensus of authors prior to 1982 was that the thylacinid family were related to the

borhyaenidae Borhyaenidae is an extinct metatherian family of low-slung, heavily built predatory mammals in the order Sparassodonta. Borhyaenids are not true marsupials, but members of a sister taxon, Sparassodonta. Like most metatherians, borhyaenids and o ...

, a group of South American predators, also extinct, that exhibited many similar characteristics of dentition. A review published in 1982 compared the skeletal structure of these groups, concluding the tarsal bones show greater affinity with the dasyurmorphs, strongly supporting the later theory that any dental similarities emerged independently. Another family, the

Thylacoleonidae Thylacoleonidae is a family of extinct meat-eating marsupials from Australia, referred to as marsupial lions. The best known is ''Thylacoleo carnifex'', also called the marsupial lion. The clade ranged from the Late Oligocene to the Pleistocene, ...

, were also large carnivorous marsupials, but allied to the order

Vombatiformes The Vombatiformes are one of the three suborders of the large marsupial order Diprotodontia. Seven of the nine known families within this suborder are extinct; only the families Phascolarctidae, with the koala, and Vombatidae, with three extant ...

and assumed to have also evolutionarily converged as predators of large herbivores.

Genera

Family Thylacinidae, extinct *Genus ''

Badjcinus ''Badjcinus turnbulli'' is an extinct Thylacinidae, thylacinid marsupial.Muirhead and Wroe, 1998. Phylogeny, Phylogenetic analysis shows that thylacines are a clade which does not include the dasyurids. ''Badjcinus'' was one of the most primitiv ...

'' Muirhead & Wroe, 1998 **''

Badjcinus turnbulli ''Badjcinus turnbulli'' is an extinct thylacinid marsupial.Muirhead and Wroe, 1998. Phylogenetic analysis shows that thylacines are a clade which does not include the dasyurids. ''Badjcinus'' was one of the most primitive members of its group, ...

'' (Late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

) *Genus ''

Maximucinus ''Maximucinus muirheadae'' is the largest known thylacinid species that lived in Queensland, Australia from the late Oligocene to the middle Miocene. The species was a quadrupedal marsupial predator, that in appearance looked similar to a dog wi ...

'' Wroe, 2001 **'' Maximucinus muirheadae'' (Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

) *Genus ''

Muribacinus ''Muribacinus gadiyuli'' lived during the middle Miocene in Riversleigh. The species name comes from Wanyi aboriginal word for "little", in reference to its considerably small size compared to the modern thylacine and was similar in size to a f ...

'' Wroe, 1995 **''

Muribacinus gadiyuli ''Muribacinus gadiyuli'' lived during the middle Miocene in Riversleigh. The species name comes from Wanyi aboriginal word for "little", in reference to its considerably small size compared to the modern thylacine and was similar in size to a f ...

'' (Middle

) *Genus ''

Mutpuracinus ''Mutpuracinus archibaldi'' is an extinct carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial that lived during the middle Miocene and is the smallest known thylacinid at approximately 1.1 kilograms, the size of a quoll, though, more closely related to the recen ...

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

& Megirian, 2000 **''

Mutpuracinus archibaldi ''Mutpuracinus archibaldi'' is an extinct carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial that lived during the middle Miocene and is the smallest known thylacinid at approximately 1.1 kilograms, the size of a quoll, though, more closely related to the recen ...

'' (Middle

) *Genus ''

Ngamalacinus ''Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi'' lived during the early Miocene and has been found in Riversleigh. The species was a carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial in Australia. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were speciali ...

'' Muirhead, 1997 **''

Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi ''Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi'' lived during the early Miocene and has been found in Riversleigh. The species was a carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial in Australia. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were speciali ...

'' Early

Riversleigh fauna *Genus ''

Nimbacinus The genus ''Nimbacinus'' contains two species of carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupials in Australia both of which are extinct: * '' Nimbacinus dicksoni'' Muirhead & Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to sh ...

'' Muirhead &

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...

, 1990 **''

Nimbacinus dicksoni ''Nimbacinus dicksoni'' is an extinct thylacinid marsupial, a close relative of the recent but extinct thylacinid known as the Tasmanian tiger. It lived approximately 23-16 million years ago in the Miocene period. ''Nimbacinus dicksoni'' was abou ...

'' (Late

— Early

) **''

Nimbacinus richi ''Nimbacinus richi'' lived during the middle Miocene and has been found in deposits in Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Nimbacinus richi'' is distinguished from Nimbacinus dicksoni by a well-preserved holotype of a right ...

'' (Middle

) *Genus ''

Thylacinus ''Thylacinus'' is a genus of extinct carnivorous marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only recent member was the thylacine (''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), commonly also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, which is believed to ...

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

, 1824 **''

Thylacinus cynocephalus The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captur ...

'', also known as the

(Late

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

) **''

Thylacinus macknessi ''Thylacinus macknessi'' lived during the early Miocene and is the oldest known member of the genus ''Thylacinus''. It is named after Brian Mackness, a supporter of Australian vertebrate paleontology. ''T. macknessi'' was a quadrupedal marsupia ...

'' (Early

) **''

Thylacinus megiriani ''Thylacinus megiriani'' lived during the late Miocene, 8 million years ago; the area ''T. megiriani'' inhabited in the Northern Territory was covered in forest with a permanent supply of water. ''Thylacinus megiriani'' was a quadrupedal marsup ...

'' (Late

) **''

'' (Early

) **''

Thylacinus yorkellus ''Thylacinus yorkellus'' is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial, a sister species of the recently extinct ''Thylacinus cynocephalus'', the Tasmanian tiger, both of which existed on mainland Australia. Taxonomy A species described by Ada ...

'' (Late

) **''

Thylacinus breviceps The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasma ...

'' (''?'') *Genus ''

Tyarrpecinus ''Tyarrpecinus rothi'' is an extinct thylacinid marsupial that lived during the late Miocene and has been found at the Alcoota scientific reserve in the Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the N ...

'' Murray & Megirian, 2000 **'' Tyarrpecinus rothi'' (Late

) *Genus ''

Wabulacinus ''Wabulacinus ridei'' lived during the early Miocene in Riversleigh. It is named after David Ride, who made the first revision of thylacinid fossils. The material was found in system C of the Camel Spurtum assembledge. ''W. ridei'' was a carniv ...

'' Muirhead, 1997 **'' Wabulacinus ridei'' Early Miocene Riversleigh fauna

References

External links

Prehistoric range of the ThylacinidaeVarious Links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q31978 Dasyuromorphs Extinct animals of Australia Extinct marsupials Mammal families Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Chattian first appearances