#thylacine

[mindblowingscience]

The Tasmanian tiger has a long, checkered history that now includes being the first extinct animal family from which scientists have recovered RNA, the molecule that brings a species' genome to life. With a specially modified protocol, a Swedish team extracted millions of RNA strands from the skin and muscle of a 132-year-old Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine. Known to scientists as Thylacinus cynocephalus, the striped, carnivorous marsupial was hunted to extinction on the island of Tasmania in Australia in the 1930s. Recovering RNA – the genetic material that translates the information encoded in DNA into proteins – from extinct animals like the thylacine could open a trove of information on gene activity long thought lost.

Continue Reading.

[newlabdakos]

Thylacine

(temporal range: 2 mio. years ago until 7. September 1936)

[text from the Wikipedia article, see also link above]

The thylacine (/ˈθaɪləsiːn/; binomial name Thylacinus cynocephalus), also commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf, is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The thylacine neared extinction throughout most of its range in mainland Australia by about 2,000 years ago, most likely because of the introduction of dingoes or due to climate change. Prior to European settlement around 5,000 remained in the wild on Tasmania. Beginning in the nineteenth century they were perceived as a threat to the livestock of farmers and bounty hunting was introduced. The last known of its species died in 1936 at Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. The thylacine is widespread in popular culture and is a cultural icon in Australia.

The thylacine was known as the Tasmanian tiger because it displayed dark transverse stripes that radiated from the top of its back, and it was known as the Tasmanian wolf because it had the general appearance of a medium-to-large-size canid. The name thylacine is derived from thýlakos meaning "pouch" and ine meaning "pertaining to", and refers to the marsupial pouch. Both sexes had a pouch. The females used theirs for rearing young and the males used theirs as a protective sheath, covering the external reproductive organs. It also had a stiff tail and could open its jaws to an unusual extent. The thylacine was an apex predator, though exactly how large its prey had been is disputed. Its closest living relatives are the other members of Dasyuromorphia including the Tasmanian devil.

The thylacine had died out on New Guinea and very few were left on the Australian mainland before European settlement of the continent. Intensive hunting on Tasmania is generally blamed for its extinction, but other contributing factors were disease, the introduction of and competition with dingoes, human encroachment into its habitat and climate change. The remains of the last known thylacine were discovered at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in 2022. Since extinction there have been numerous searches and reported sightings of live animals, none of which have been confirmed.

The thylacine has been used extensively as a symbol of Tasmania. The animal is featured on the official coat of arms of Tasmania. On 7 September, the date in 1936 on which the last known thylacine died, National Threatened Species Day is commemorated in Australia. Universities, museums and other institutions across the world research the animal. Its whole genome sequence has been mapped and there are efforts to clone and bring them back to life.

[acegodzilla]

BUILD-A-BEAR THYLACINE

BUILD-A-BEAR THYLACINE AT THE BINS!!!

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

[isnyr]

[vintagewildlife]

Thylacines sunbathing at the Hobart Zoo By: Unknown photographer Unknown year

[moonlight-wolf-archive]

Colorized Thylacines pt. 3

[honeycomb-butch]

colorized thylacine footage

[extinctionstories]

This 36x48” oil on canvas diptych is part of a series I’ve been working on based on the thylacine, also known as the “Tasmanian Tiger” or marsupial wolf.

One of my biggest interests has always been animals, and in particular the ones that humans have destroyed. Every lost or vanishing species is its own story, and as an illustrator theirs are the stories that I am the most invested in telling (hence the blog).

The thylacine is one of the classic examples of human-caused extinction: an utterly unique creature, deliberately exterminated due to a combination of greed, ignorance, hubris, and fear.

Scared or anxious marsupials have a habit of stretching their jaws in a display known as a yawn (you’ve probably seen memes of opossums that look like they’re yelling—it’s the same thing). This display was especially striking in the thylacine, which could open its jaw to over 90°. Some of the most famous photos of thylacines capture them in this attitude of fear.

Unfortunately for the thylacine, humans have more direct methods of dealing with the things that scare them.

The title of this pair of paintings is ‘When They Are Frightened, They Show Their Teeth’.

The overall series is called ‘Here Be Monsters’, as a nod to both the far-flung environs of the thylacine, and the behavior of those who intruded upon it.

Stay tuned for more.

[meadowbrown]

the last thylacine

[stinkybrowndogs]

Normal art

[olessan]

The central continent of my worldbuilding world is dominated by marsupials and monotremes, and birds. There are several species of thylacine, and one — which is essentially our Thylacinus cynocephalus — is domesticated.

They are a recent domestication, with about 250 generations having passed. Compared to the wild ancestors, they have similar builds, but with more colours, variation in size, and longer lifespans (12-20 years). They have lost their natural reclusive nature and though shy, are friendly and inquisitive and trainable to a point. Most prefer to be solitary or tolerate the presence of 1-2 others, though get along well with other calm-tempered species. Their prey drive is greatly reduced but many suffer anxiety in loud or busy environments.

Lil update: If you would like fancy thylacines to put places, I turned this into a poster/prints, and there's also a sticker <3

[beardless-bearded-vulture]

Don't even get me started they have a Thylacine at the museum and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen

[ikrutt]

Dreaming, 2023

Art Fight of curbs by CherishLoveArt. Rigged and animated from scratch! Curbs are fantasy thylacines that pop up in @alhilton's wonderful novel Hunters Unlucky. With permission, I entered my own version of the curbs in Art Fight this year. Absolutely blown away by the wonderful art I received!

[palaeoplushies]

I love making costumes and I've learnt a lot of plush making from furries over the years... This was inevitable. Or maybe I was actually just a Thylacine this whole time.

[woetoy]

no time to draw or exist online lately sooo have this lil thang from the vault