Indigenous Rock Art Challenges Timeline of Tasmanian Tiger Extinction on Australian Mainland

Archaeologists have documented 14 Indigenous rock art depictions of thylacines, commonly known as Tasmanian tigers, in Arnhem Land within Australia's Northern Territory. Published in the journal Archaeology in Oceania, the research suggests these paintings may be less than 1,000 years old, indicating the species might have persisted on mainland Australia longer than the previously accepted estimate of approximately 3,000 years. The artwork, created using red and yellow ochre along with white kaolin pigment, shows elongated, dog-like animals with varying tail positions and occasional stripes. Researchers from Griffith University, including lead author Paul Taçon and co-author Andrea Jalandoni, collaborated with local Indigenous groups during the study. Some Indigenous elders shared stories about the sacred Ngalyod figure keeping thylacines as pets. The findings offer insight into the cultural significance of thylacines, which were historically more widespread and culturally important than Tasmanian devils, with about 150 known mainland rock-art depictions compared to 23 for devils. The study notes that modern Indigenous artists continue to depict thylacines on various media, and a children's book in the Kunwinjku language was published in 2018. While the last documented thylacine died in captivity at a Hobart zoo in 1936, over 1,000 potential sightings have been reported since, though the rock art provides new evidence about the mainland extinction timeline.