Thylacinus
Temporal range: Early Miocene-Holocene
Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: †Thylacinidae
Genus: †Thylacinus
Temminck, 1824
Species

All extinct, see text

Thylacinus is a genus of extinct carnivorous marsupials in the family Thylacinidae. The only recent member was the thylacine (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 passing away 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 6.7–9.0 kilograms (14.8–19.8 lb). 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.[1]

Species

Below is a phylogeny by Yates (2015) on the relationships of Thylacinus.[2]

Thylacinus

Thylacinus macknessi

Thylacinus potens

Thylacinus megiriani

Thylacinus yorkellus

Thylacinus cynocephalus

References

  1. ↑ Rovinsky, Douglass S.; Evans, Alistair R.; Adams, Justin W. (2 September 2019). "The pre-Pleistocene fossil thylacinids (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae) and the evolutionary context of the modern thylacine". PeerJ. 7: e7457. doi:10.7717/peerj.7457. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6727838. PMID 31534836.
  2. ↑ Yates, A. M. (2015). "Thylacinus (Marsupialia: Thylacinidae) from the Mio-Pliocene boundary and the diversity of Late Neogene thylacinids in Australia". PeerJ. 3: e931. doi:10.7717/peerj.931. PMC 4435473. PMID 26019996.


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