thylacine

Overview

The thylacine is a mammal well known for dark stripes on the rear of its body. Fur ranging from sandy yellow-brown to gray and stripes along the rear back create its appearance. Color, pattern, and length excluding the tail can be examined separately.^[1]

Key facts

The stripes are especially conspicuous toward the rear of the body. The museum describes about 15–20 dark stripes on the rear back. Comparing front and rear shows that the pattern’s location is distinctive.^[1]

Time and place

The Quaternary spans roughly 2.6 million years ago to recent times. The museum explains that thylacines formerly ranged from mainland Australia to New Guinea and Tasmania, later becoming restricted to Tasmania. Its broad historical distribution changed over time.^[1][3]

The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.

Size, form and skeleton

The fur is described as sandy yellow-brown to gray, with dark stripes on the rear back. The zoological account reports a head-and-body length of about 85–118cm. This excludes the tail, allowing body length to be distinguished from total length.^[1][2]

Habitat and reproduction

Females had a rear-opening pouch. The Australian Museum explains that a litter contained up to four young. Alongside the body’s stripes, structures for carrying young provide clues to thylacine life.^[1][2]

Fossil discovery

According to Tasmanian government records, the last known captive thylacine died at Hobart Zoo on September 7, 1936. Alongside the deep time conveyed by fossils, human records reveal the chronology of the last captive individual.^[1][2][4]

References

1. Australian Museum — Thylacine species profile
2. Fauna of Australia · Thylacinidae
3. International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
4. NRE Tasmania. Tasmanian Tiger species guide. Last published 2021-11-18.
5. Beck et al. — Osteology and classification of the enigmatic metatherian Yalkaparidon

Research questions

When comparing animal lengths, examine the endpoints of the measurement. Head-and-body length may exclude the tail. Considering pattern positions together with measured body regions allows even a familiar animal to be read more precisely.^[2]

Observation

First find the dark stripes on the rear of the body, then follow the outline from the head through the trunk to the tail. Imagining head-and-body length separately from total length including the tail helps clarify its size.^[1][2]