Thylacinus potens

Thylacinus potens
Temporal range: Miocene 10–8 Ma
↓
Upper jaw
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: †Thylacinidae
Genus: †Thylacinus
Species: †T. potens
Binomial name
Thylacinus potens
(Woodburne, 1967)
Restoration

Thylacinus potens ("powerful pouched dog") was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae, originally known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene locality near Alice Springs, Northern Territory. It preceded the most recent species of thylacine by 4–6 million years,[1] and was 5% bigger,[2] was more robust and had a shorter, broader skull. Its size is estimated to be similar to that of a grey wolf; the head and body together were around 5 feet long, and its teeth were less adapted for shearing compared to those of the now-extinct thylacine.[1]

More specimens were described in 2014.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Some Thylacine Relics: Tertiary (page 1)
  2. ↑ The Lost Kingdoms of Australia by Stephen Wroe Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Yates, A. M. (2014). "New craniodental remains of Thylacinus potens (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae), a carnivorous marsupial from the late Miocene Alcoota Local Fauna of central Australia". PeerJ. 2: e547. doi:10.7717/peerj.547. PMC 4157238. PMID 25237601.
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