I. Lost Not Forgotten
Thylacine
Index Naturae
IN 2.10.20-J
Thylacine
Thylacinus cynocephalus
Young portrait
I. Lost Not Forgotten
Field notes
The thylacine was a striped carnivorous marsupial, with a stiff tail and a pouch in which females carried their young. Once widespread across Australia and New Guinea, it survived longest in Tasmania, hunting mainly at night through a varied landscape.
- Former range
- Australia and New Guinea historically; last surviving population in Tasmania
- Habitat
- A mosaic of dry eucalypt forest, wetlands and grasslands
Extinction
Colonial persecution, including bounties, drove the Tasmanian decline alongside other pressures. The last known captive thylacine died in Hobart in 1936. Later reported sightings have not provided conclusive evidence that the species survives.
Sources & conservation context
- Australian Museum — Thylacine
- Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania — Tasmanian tiger
- National Museum of Australia — Extinction of thylacine
Extinct — Global species status: Thylacinus cynocephalus
Source review: 6 October 2026. Assessment dates, where given, belong to the cited source.