10 Facts About Tasmanian Tiger
Tasmanian tiger is a marsupial
Tasmanian tiger or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is a marsupial (like a koala or kangaroo) for which we can not say for sure whether it is extinct or not. It was the most modern marsupial carnivore, and is named tiger due stripes on its back.
It can jump like a kangaroo
It is not related to the dog, wolf, tiger or any other cat, but is one of the Thylacinidae family, and its close relatives are Tasmanian devils or Numbata. It is capable to perform a jump with two feet in a manner similar to kangaroos. It could balances on its hind legs and stand on them for short periods.
It was protected four months before last one died
Tasmanian tiger looked like a large, elongated dog with stripes, and the last known specimen died in a Tasmanian zoo in Hobart in 1936. Four months before it died Tasmanian government has officially decided to protect a dying breed, but is not very clear why they waited to remain a single specimen, and how they thought reproduce one Tasmanian Tiger.
One of reasons for its disappearance is a dingo
The reason for its disappearance in Australia is a dingo, a dog who came to the continent, accompanied by the first settlers, Aboriginal ancestors, and then went wild, settled the bush and, as a stronger and more advanced predator, endangered Tasmanian tiger. A similar process happens today when imported foxes seriously endanger many marsupials, some of which were brought to the brink of extinction and survive only under strict protection. Until the arrival of Europeans to Australia Tasmanian tiger has lived only in Tasmania. Since the 1830s settlers begin relentlessly pursue this animal on charges of killing their sheep.
Maybe it survived on the Australian mainland
There are some observations of Tasmanian tiger on the Australian mainland. Be assumed that if he did survive it is very rare and that it is in need of urgent protection. The footprints were found that might belong to this animal and it also was a statement by which many have heard the sounds of what were advertised Tasmanian tigers. There was a statement from people who claimed to have seen this animal in nature. However, in spite of research, found no clear evidence of the existence of these animals.
Tasmanian tiger images
They can open jaw unusually wide
Tasmanian tigers were able to open the jaw unusually wide – to an angle of 120 degrees. This can be seen in a short black and white film from 1933 by David Fleay, which displays the last captive specimen of this kind.
Males had quivers
It was one of two known marsupials in which both sexes have a quiver. Males had quivers that they serve as a shield for the reproductive organs while running through thick vegetation.
It is a nocturnal animal
Tasmanian tiger is a nocturnal animal. It hunted mostly at night, and it is believed to have been ambush predator.
Prize of 1.000.000 dollars
There is a prize of one million dollars to anyone who proves that the Tasmanian tiger still exists, but so far no one has won money.
It could be cloned in the near future
Tasmanian tiger could be the first animal returned from the dead as the Tasmanian scientists begin the separation of its genetic code in order to cloning. Otherwise, 1986, the species was declared as extinct.
Since 1936, when the last specimen of this animal has died, there are more than 4,500 reports that the animal was seen, but the real proof is still missing.
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