Is The Thylacine Still Alive?

deep in the forest of tasmania lived a ferocious hunter it ruled australia and then disappeared some say it's still around living in the shadows waiting for a chance to return this is the thylacine hi i'm daniel dufoe and you're watching paleologic this species is a little controversial because unlike every other animal in this series some people believe that it's still alive thylacine genetics might be complicated but when it comes to cats basepaws is making it easier than ever to decipher your furry companion's family tree base paws is the number one cat dna test that helps cat parents learn more about their cat's breed and health i tested my cat nebula in just three easy steps one i registered the kit two swapped the insides of her mouth and three sent the sample to base paws in just a couple of weeks i'll be able to tell not only her genetic makeup but also important health information such as her risk for periodontal disease tooth resorption and polycystic kidney disease pkd base paws tests and provides results for over 65 markers for genetic health conditions i'm really looking forward to seeing the results the report will arm me with everything i need to know to make sure that my cat lives a longer and better life visit basepaws.com animal logic and order your cat dna test today and you can use animal logic 30 to receive 30 off your first order for a limited time base paws better lives lived longer thanks vase paws the thylacine also known as the tasmanian tiger or the marsupial wolf was common across the australian mainland and tasmania just a few thousand years ago the thylacine was shaped like a dog and was slightly smaller than a pit bull 15 to 20 stripes across its rump and tail earned it the nickname the tasmanian tiger they were used for camouflage just like other striped predators like actual tigers and numbats their closest living relatives but outside of the stripes they were so similar to dogs that sometimes thylacine skulls are compared to wolf skulls to test zoology students as part of their final exams if you're ever given a skull and asked to tell if it's a wolf or a thylacine the main clue is that in the thylacine skull there's a pair of holes in the pallet bone their biologies were similar to canids because their lifestyle was similar they were observed walking in packs and pursuing prey like wolves do but little else is known about them due to their secretive nature there are aboriginal paintings dating back hundreds of years both on the mainland and tasmania but by the time european scientists saw them for the first time in the early 1800s they only survived on the island they reportedly loved eating chickens and other birds including the now extinct tasmanian emu other common prey were the tasmanian native hen yes that's their real name and smaller mammals like bandicoots and possums the size of their prey was limited by their jaws even though they could open it up to an impressive 80 degrees they couldn't apply a lot of force hollow bird bones were the perfect meal for them unfortunately their predilection for poultry made them a target for farmers and bounties were set up to control their populations thousands were similar to other carnivorous marsupials like the tasmanian devil the joeys didn't venture out of the pouch until they were about 12 weeks and were dependent on their moms until they were at least half their adult size litters usually had two to four joeys limited by the mother's four teats and were born year-round though the winter seems to have been their preferred breeding season thylacines were unique among australian marsupials because the males also had pouches they weren't for carrying babies but they were used for protecting their scrotums like a wallet in a purse babies would stick around until they were able to contribute to the hunt and then eventually would disperse and find new terrains their life expectancy was similar to other carnivorous marsupials at just about eight years unfortunately their bird-eating ways were no match for the more generalist dingo their biggest rivals when those dogs entered the australian mainland 4 000 years ago it was the beginning of the end for the thylacine [Music] dingoes are great hunters and can survive on a more varied diet during times of scarcity dingoes were a lot more resilient and little by little the thylacine died out on the mainland only mummified specimens remain in the caves of the nullabor plains marsupial carnivores like the tasmanian devils suffered a similar fate and their last refuge is tasmania where there are no dingos [Music] this tasmanian ecosystem for thylacines lasted for over 4 000 years until another outsider entered the game europeans europeans hunted the thylacine's prey tasmanian emus to extinction they started culls put bounties on thylacines and fragmented their habitat to the point that the thylacine survival was impossible [Music] additionally the last populations were known to have a form of distemper a viral infection that usually affects dogs the virus might have sped up the decline of thylacine populations in 1930 the last known wild thylacine was killed by a farmer the last remaining individuals survived in zoos for a few years after that but breeding them in captivity was very difficult and they all slowly died out the last known thylacine died in 1936 he's known as benjamin and he died when he was left outside during a particularly cold night in september by then there were conservation efforts but it was a little too late and so the thylacine was gone and lost to the memory of mankind forever or was it there have been dozens of unconfirmed reports of sightings since then and some people still firmly believe that the thylacine is still around most of the reports are from western australia and southern victoria several studies with trap cams have been done but so far no live thylacines have been found there are even bounties on sightings so if you're strapped for cash and want to go on a cryptozoology adventure consider looking for thylacines there's still a bit of hope because researchers have found tracks and scat that could be from thylacines but they don't know for sure if thylacines are indeed extinct then our last possible chance to see them is to clone them it might be a long shot but we have enough specimens that we've managed to sequence the complete thylacine genome it's still very early and we're still trying to figure out the ethical technological and ecological issues around cloning but if it does happen we could see the return of thylacines as well as other recently extinct animals such as dodos and mammoths but for now all we have are museum and lab specimens which are reminders of the amazing creatures we have lost recently and a warning to preserve other species from going the way of the dodo and the thylacine so let's appreciate what we have and continue to do all that we can to help our ecosystems [Music] so what should we talk about next please let me know in the comments and be sure to subscribe for new episodes every week thanks for watching see ya [Music] just got into the tasmanian museum of science and nature or science and art i believe and i'm on a mission here i gotta find the thylacine aka the tasmanian tiger because what would i be doing here in tasmania if not finding a thylacine oh look at all these cruels some tasmanian devils our buddies the monotremes who we ran into in victoria but i still haven't found my thylacine it's my mission here if there's one thing i need to find i mean not that all not that i expect to find one alive and this museum certainly wouldn't have that because no one does oh my god guys i'm face to face with thylacine it's probably been stuffed for about a hundred years now

Channel: Animalogic

Views: 761,778

Keywords: animals, animal, logic, education, animalogic, crazy, ugly, weird, gross, beautiful, interesting, facts, about, information, info, school, research, learn, learning, smart, 4k, nature documentary, nature doc, floralogic, second nature, thylacine, tasmania, tasmanian tiger, australian wolf, tasmanian wolf, extinct, colour, color, colourized, colorized, thylacoleo, thylacosmilus, tassy tiger, tasmanian devil, quoll, marsupial, carniverous marsupial, carnivore, predator, dingo

Id: 4tGtbZX7kBY

Length: 10min 17sec (617 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 15 2022