Extinct Australian thylacine hunted like a big cat

Monday, May 16th, 2011

The extinct Australian thylacine has been called a marsupial wolf and a Tasmanian tiger, but the latter name may be closer to the truth, as it likely hunted like a big cat, from ambush, rather than by running its prey to exhaustion:

The researchers compared the thylacine’s skeleton with those of dog-like and cat-like species, such as pumas, jackals and wolves, as well as Tasmanian devils — the largest carnivorous marsupials living today.

They found that the thylacine would have been able to rotate its arm so that the palm faced upwards, like a cat.

This increased amount of arm and paw movement would have helped the “Tasmanian tiger” subdue its prey after an ambush.

Dingoes and wolves have a more restricted range of arm-hand movement. Their hands are — to a greater degree — fixed in the palm-down position, reflecting their strategy of hunting by pursuit and in packs, rather than by surprise.

However, this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Some cats, like cheetahs, use speed to catch their quarry, while some dog-like species, such as foxes, rely on ambush to catch their prey.

This part always makes me sad:

The last captive thylacine — known as Benjamin — died in Hobart Zoo, Tasmania, in September 1936.

Comments

  1. Goober says:

    There have been so many sightings of late on the Tasmanian mainland and also on mainland Australia that it gives one hope that they are not extinct. It is, indeed, sad when an animal goes extinct because of the actions of man. I hope beyond hope that these recent thylacine sightings are the real deal and that these awesome creatures have managed to survive despite the odds.

  2. Chris Anderson says:

    I feel the same when I think about “Martha,” the last passenger pigeon, who died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. What is it like to be the last of a species tha once numbered in the billions?

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