A new Australian study has shed significant light on the hunting techniques of the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, revealing that the iconic marsupial was incomparable to any living animal in its predatory approach. The findings, reported by ABC News Australia, challenge historical misconceptions that contributed to the animal’s persecution and eventual extinction.
Researchers from Flinders University and the University of Melbourne conducted an in-depth analysis of thylacine skull structures, concluding that the animal likely used powerful, high-impact snapping bites to capture small to medium-sized prey, such as bandicoots. This method, according to the study, was not suited for hunting larger animals like sheep, directly contradicting the claims made by early European settlers that led to the thylacine being hunted to extinction.
Professor Vera Weisbecker from Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering, a lead author of the study, highlighted that the thylacine was a unique species whose hunting method probably has no counterpart among modern mammals. Dr. Douglass Rovinsky, another researcher involved, explained that despite the thylacine’s oversized skull – roughly the same size as a wolf’s, even though the thylacine weighed half as much – its snout was long, slender, and almost delicate, more akin to a fox or jackal than a robust large predator.
The study, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, utilised 3D shape analysis to compare scanned thylacine skulls from museums worldwide with those of other predatory mammals. This revealed a unique combination of features, with the thylacine’s large skull, long and high upper jaw, and broad muzzle enabling its distinctive snapping bite. While this “big head, lethal snap” adaptation is unusual in mammals, it is commonly observed in animals like crocodiles and predatory fish, which use fast-snapping jaws to catch agile prey.
These latest findings further debunk the myths that fuelled the thylacine’s demise. For generations, Tasmanian farmers believed the thylacine was a significant threat to livestock, leading to government bounties being placed on the animal in the 19th century. This persecution accelerated the decline of the species, with the last known thylacine, named Benjamin, dying in captivity at Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo in 1936.
The research underscores that the thylacine, a marsupial more closely related to kangaroos and Tasmanian devils than to dogs, was tragically misunderstood. Its scientific name, Thylacinus cynocephalus, meaning “dog-head,” further illustrates the colonial misperception of this truly unique Tasmanian predator.
For a more detailed account of this significant study, readers are encouraged to refer to the original report by ABC News (Tasmania).