"The onslaught of destruction wrought upon the thylacine by the early settlers of Tasmania came about largely as a result of fear, ignorance, and misunderstanding." An extinct carnivorous marsupial.
posted by interrobang on May 4, 2005 - 16 comments

The Tasmanian Tiger or thylacine [Thylacinus cynocephalus], a marsupial, was thought to have become extinct when the last known animal died in captivity from exposure in 1936. There have been numerous alleged sightings since. A German tourist supposedly photographed one recently (free reg.). Now there's a reward out for producing a live specimen but with prohibitive conditions requiring a permit that won't be issued. The thylacine cloning project has just been abandoned because the pup (from 1866) was kept in alcohol and not formalin - degrading the DNA.
posted by peacay on Mar 27, 2005 - 16 comments

The Thylacine Museum is a true labour of love. Everything you could possibly want to know about the thylacine (AKA "Tasmanian tiger" or "Tasmanian wolf"). Able to open its mouth incredibly wide, sit upright on its hind legs like a kangaroo, and a foremost example of convergent evolution (extremely similar to placental mammals like wolves, yet marsupial), the thylacine was a fascinating animal. Hunted to extinction in less than a hundred years (or not), a cloning project is underway to try and resurrect it. This site has everything: videos, Java-riffic skull diagrams, pictures of mummified thylacines who died over 4,000 years ago, and pictures of Benjamin, the last captive thylacine who died in 1936.
posted by biscotti on Aug 1, 2002 - 24 comments