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''Thylacinus'' is a
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of extinct carnivorous
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 ...
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 recent member 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 Tasma ...
(''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), commonly also known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, which is believed to have become extinct in 1936. In the first half of the 20th century, an already dwindling thylacine population was exposed to a combination of excessive hunting by humans, as well as likely competition with introduced dogs. Other prehistoric species are known from this genus. An unidentified species is known from
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
. Thylacines emerged around four million years ago and were known to inhabit Australia before they disappeared, most likely due to competition with dingos. Their last known stronghold was in Tasmania before they became extinct due to European hunting.


Species

*Genus ''Thylacinus'' **''
Thylacinus cynocephalus 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 ...
'', also known as 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 Tasma ...
(Early
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Thylacinus 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 ...
'' (
Lower Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was prec ...
) **''
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 ...
'' (
Upper Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ev ...
/
Lower Pliocene Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́ ...
) **''
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, N ...
'' (
Upper Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ev ...
) **''
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 ...
'' (
Upper Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ev ...
/
Lower Pliocene Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́ ...
) **''
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 ...
'' (''?'') Below is a phylogeny by Yates (2015) on the relationships of ''Thylacinus''. {{clade, style=font-size:100%; line-height:100% , label1=''Thylacinus'' , 1={{clade , 1=''
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 ...
'' , 2={{clade , 1=''
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, N ...
'' , 2={{clade , 1=''
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 ...
'' , 2={{clade , 1=''
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 ...
'' , 2={{clade , 1=''
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 ...
'' , 2=''
Thylacinus cynocephalus 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 ...
''


References

{{Reflist}


External links


Prehistoric range of the ThylacinidaeAustralian ThylacineVarious Links
{{Agreodontia {{Taxonbar, from=Q194340 Dasyuromorphs Extinct animals of Australia Extinct marsupials Marsupial genera Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck Holocene extinctions Pleistocene first appearances {{marsupial-stub