Facts about Thylacine
- 08
Thylacine skeletal anatomy included a stiff tail that comprised nearly 60 percent of their total body length, functioning as a counterbalance during rapid directional changes while hunting prey.
- 07
Thylacine brains weighed approximately 4 grams, roughly 50 percent smaller than a similarly sized dog's brain, reflecting their specialized hunting instincts over complex cognition.
- 06
Nocturnal hunters, thylacines possessed forward-facing eyes and excellent night vision, enabling them to pursue small marsupials and rodents across Tasmania's dark forests with precision.
- 05
Stripes on thylacine backs contained 13 dark bands running perpendicular to their spine, a distinctive marking that varied slightly between individual animals in Tasmania.
- 04
Fossil records from mainland Australia indicate thylacines inhabited the continent for at least 24 million years before becoming extinct on the mainland approximately 2,000 years ago.
- 03
Powerful jaw muscles enabled thylacines to open their mouths up to 120 degrees, allowing them to consume prey nearly as large as themselves.
- 02
A 1-meter-long pouch in female thylacines held up to four joey during their approximately 3-month nursing period before weaning.
- 01
The last thylacine died in captivity at Hobart Zoo on September 7, 1936, approximately 65 years after European settlement decimated the species in Tasmania.