The last known Tasmanian Panthera tigris kick the bucket 88 years ago – but now , fossil grounds of three new species of the out marsupial has been discovered in Australia . Among the new species are the cursed carnivore ’s earliest - cognize ancestor and the old Thylacinus cynocephalus known to date , which was the majestic owner of a terrific , bone - crush jaw .
Tasmanian tigers – also known as Tasmanian wolf – are out marsupials that were native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea before going extinct in the twentieth hundred ( although exactly when this happened isup for public debate ) .
The three new ancient coinage – Badjcinus timfaulkneri , Nimbacinus peterbridgei , andNgamalacinus nigelmarveni – roamed Australia 23 to 25 million year ago , during the recent Oligocene , place them among the oldest thylacinids ever discover . In fact , B. timfaulkneriis thought to be the oldest undoubted thylacine we know of .
The fossils were unearth in deposit of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northwestern Queensland . As well as being the oldest , B. timfaulkneriis the largest of the new species , press in at around 7 - 11 kilograms ( 15 - 24 pounds ) . It also possessed an exceedingly strong jaw , allow it to crush the bones and teeth of its prey .
The species is relate to another much smaller thylacine , B. turnbulli , which until now was the only other undoubted thylacinid known from the late Oligocene .
“ The once advise idea that Australia was rule by reptilian carnivore during these 25 million - twelvemonth - prospicient intervals is steadily being dismantled as the fossil record of marsupial carnivores , such as these new thylacinids , increases with each new find , ” Timothy Churchill , direct author of a paper presenting the findings , said in astatement .
“ The diverseness of mammalian carnivore at Riversleigh during this point rivals that witness in any other ecosystem , including the bang-up mammalian carnivore radioactivity that develop in South America . ”
The second new detect specie , N. peterbridgei , appear more closely related to theTasmanian tigerthan the other fogey , making it probably the oldest unmediated ancestor of the late out carnivore . It was slightly smaller than the other two species at 3.7 kg ( 8 pounds ) .
N. nigelmarveni , meanwhile , weighed 5.1 kilograms ( 11 pounds ) and had “ meat - cutting ” notches on its teeth , suggest it was highly carnivorous – perhaps more so than any other thylacinids of alike size .
“ The presence of three trenchant parentage of specialize thylacinids during the late Oligocene highlights how quickly they diversified after first appearing in the fossil track record , ” co - author Professor Michael Archer read .
“ These thylacinids present very different dental adaptations , suggesting there were several unique carnivorous recess useable during this period . All but one of these lineages , the one that head to the forward-looking Thylacine , became out around 8 million years ago . ”
The last known thylacine died in a zoo on September 7 , 1936 . The appointment has since become Australia ’s National Threatened Species Day , and this year was marked with the publication of this latest thylacine research .
The study is published in theJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology .
