Study Debunks Myth of Tasmanian Tiger as Livestock Killer
A study released on August 31 in Nature Communications disputes the notion that thylacines, commonly known as Tasmanian tigers, were vicious predators of livestock. Research on thylacine skulls indicates their primary diet consisted of small to medium-sized animals, such as bandicoots. Vera Weisbecker, the lead author from Flinders University, argues that their extinction highlights a lack of understanding of Australia's fauna. European settlers, driven by fears of livestock attacks and government bounties, hunted thylacines to extinction. The research revealed that these animals weighed around 37 pounds and had elongated snouts for swift captures, similar to crocodiles. Co-authors Andrew Pask and Douglass Rovinsky pointed out that their teeth were adapted for crushing. The last known thylacine died in a Hobart zoo in 1936, despite over 1,000 reported sightings since then.
Key facts
- New research published August 31 in Nature Communications challenges the myth that Tasmanian tigers were livestock killers.
- Analysis of thylacine skulls suggests they primarily hunted small to medium-sized prey like bandicoots.
- European colonists hunted thylacines to extinction due to fears they attacked livestock, incentivized by government bounties.
- Thylacines weighed about 37 pounds on average, half as much as wolves, but had proportionally large heads.
- Their long, slender snouts and feeding style resembled crocodiles and predatory fish, not wolves.
- Thylacines were more closely related to kangaroos than canines, diverging from dog ancestors 122 to 166 million years ago.
- The last known thylacine died in a Hobart zoo in 1936, but over 1,000 sightings have been reported since.
- Lead author Vera Weisbecker says the extinction is a story of ignorance and lack of respect for Australia's unique wildlife and Indigenous custodians.
Entities
Artists
- Vera Weisbecker
- Andrew Pask
- Douglass Rovinsky
- Love Dalén
- Sarah Kuta
- Ashley Strickland
- Stephen Luntz
Institutions
- Flinders University
- Nature Communications
- University of Melbourne
- Monash University
- Stockholm University
- CNN
- IFLScience
- Smithsonian Magazine
Locations
- Tasmania
- Australia
- Hobart
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Longmont
- Colorado
- United States