Reconstruction of the predatory behaviour of the extinct marsupial thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Abstract

The European colonists of Tasmania named the thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus a`marsupial wolf ' or the`Tasmanian tiger' or`hyena', in reference to its resemblance to large canids and the bold stripes on its rump. The largest marsupial carnivore in historic times, it was persecuted for alleged sheep killing and became extinct before its ecology was documented. We have reconstructed the likely prey size and the hunting and killing methods of the thylacine by comparing canine tooth strength and limb bone length ratios with those of extant marsupial and placental carnivores. The thylacine was probably a pounce± pursuit predator of fairly open habitats, which killed medium-sized prey (1±5 kg) that were small relative to its body size (15±30 kg), with a crushing, penetrating bite. The trophic niche of the thylacine was similar to that of smaller canids such as the coyote Canis latrans (rather than the wolf C. lupus), but ecomorphological convergence of the thylacine with canids was super®cial. Phylogenetic constraint has resulted in unique patterns of tooth eruption, molar tooth and jaw geometry, calcaneum architecture, and perhaps FMT/running speed relationships in the Dasyuroidea.

Skull mechanics and implications for feeding behaviour in a large marsupial carnivore guild: the thylacine, Tasmanian devil and spotted‐tailed quoll

“…Whether or not T. cynocephalus was well adapted to kill prey approaching or exceeding its own body mass remains a contentious issue. Previous morphological studies on this species suggest that they targeted prey considerably smaller (1-5 kg) than themselves (Jones & Stoddart, 1998). Most data are restricted to Tasmania, whereas in Pleistocene and early Holocene times, the species ranged across Australia and New Guinea (Plane, 1976).…”

Costs of carnivory: tooth fracture in Pleistocene and Recent carnivorans

“…Among the best-known studies are those of Vermeij (Vermeij, Zipser & Dudley, 1980;Vermeij, Schindel & Zipser, 1981) who examined shell-boring traces in marine invertebrates to study the evolution of predator-prey interactions over the Phanerozoic. Among vertebrates, evidence from tooth fracture and wear has provided insight into feeding behaviour of several extant and extinct species, including the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo (Patterson, Neiburger & Kasiki, 2003), tyrannosaurid dinosaurs (Schubert & Ungar, 2005), Tasmanian wolves, Thylacinus cynocephalus (Jones & Stoddart, 1998), and two sabertooth cats, Homotherium serum (Marean & Ehrhardt, 1995) and Smilodon fatalis (Van Valkenburgh & Hertel, 1993). In addition, the study of injury rate or type can reveal previously unknown features of past communities.…”

Foraging behavior of three Tasmanian macropodid marsupials in response to present and historical predation threat

“…Third, it is possible that neither devils nor thylacines posed much risk to either wallabies or kangaroos. Jones and Stoddart (1998) suggested that thylacines hunted primarily small-bodied prey (i.e., smaller than adult Bennett's wallabies; but see Case 1985, Paddle 2000. Our results are consistent with Jones and Stoddart's reconstruction of thylacine behavior in Tasmania, and suggest that thylacines may not have been an important predator of adult kangaroos there.…”

“…The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was hunted to extinction only within the past century (Guiler 1985, Watts 1993, Paddle 2000. One recent hypothesis suggests that it was most likely to prey on 1 -5 kg prey (Jones and Stoddart 1998), although both personal accounts (Paddle 2000) and subsequent analyses (Jones 2003, Wroe and Muirhead in press) suggest that larger-bodied prey may have also been taken. With respect to non-native predators, only the domestic cat Felis catus has been introduced to Tasmania where it has had a negligible impact on mammalian diversity (Watts 1993).…”