|
Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)
|
 
Fake or real? Two apparent cases
I think it is probably a feral dog or dingo but you decide. https://www.rt.com/viral/359671-tasmania...ed-camera/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...kyard.html 
More:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dgq6d0Yf10 It's quite similar to rumours about big cats in the UK. I saw a cast of a footprint of a Javan tiger taken in the last eighties. Phatio posted information about Javan tigers quite recently. I posted reports about tigers seen in Afghanistan and other parts of the Caspian region. Fascinating stuff.
Yes, what's interesting about the video is that the tail of the animal pictured is not that of a typical dog. It looks more like a kangaroo tail then the distinct tail of a dog which is short and fluffy. Much like the Tasmanian wolf.
At first sight it looks convincing, but check out how dingos with mange look like:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Kind of similar. Are dingos found in that area? I've read they are not. A dingo also seems proportionately taller. I can't see any pattern on the animal in the video either, if that's reality of poor camera quality I can't say. Even with those two grievances, quite an intriguing, if not convincing, piece of tape. 
THYLACINE - MY UNDERSTANDING ON YOUR HISTORY
The aboriginal Tasmanians (Palawa) inhabitants of the island of Tasmania (until 1856 called the land Van Diemen) had a temporal history of about more than 30,000 years of permanence in this land. Before British actual colonization in 1803 there was an estimated population between 6,000 and 15,000 Palawa, its extinction, as uniquely Tasmanian descent is considered by historians to be one of the earliest genocides in modern times. Genetic studies have supported a much higher population. The first explorers who heard from Palawa that their numbers were already much larger, that "strange diseases" plagued them and entire tribes died out - possibly brought on by the successive anonymous ones who landed after the first European to set foot in Tasmania in 1642 (Abel Jansen Tasman) . Truganini, who died in 1876, is considered the last Tasmanian "pure blood." Isolated by more than 10,000 from Australia, they used more primitive technology than any other ethnic group of the modern era and made only a few simple tools of wood and stone. They had no contact with the outside world until the arrival of Europeans. In 1772 begins the first official exploratory expedition of the island and successively they were initially occupying the north and northwest of the island. The Aboriginal Tasmanians were heavily used, exploited in a manual way, enslaved, subjected to all kinds of violence, segregation, women were used in all kinds of services, consuming sexual exploitation on a large scale. Victims of a social Darwinism had a huge strain of fatal diseases in which they lacked immunity (venereal diseases were widespread). Intensified by the Black War of 1820 to 1832 their numbers fell to less than 400 individuals. At this time the government, through Martial Law, authorized to capture and to kill natives, including offering subsidies. "An institutionalized extermination". Thylacine was not the first to be extinct: Emu (Tasmanian) - Dromaius novaehollandiae diemenensis so it was. Very little is known specifically about this ratite. At the time of its probable extinction (1850) no study was done, all knowledge is homologous to the native Emu of Australia. A great land bird that no one noticed of its disappearance. There is no greater analysis of its process of extinction. The problems stemming from colonialism quickly labeled the first species. In this rapidly colonizing environment, Thylacine paid its price. A history full of gaps, lies, distorted visions intentional or not, condemned this animal to undergo a relentless persecution. European settlers introduced the sheep in Tasmania into commercial numbers around 1820 (Merino sheep). Van Diemen's Land Company has introduced gratuities for the slaughter of thylacine since 1830, and between 1888 and 1909 the Tasmanian government paid £ 1 per head. (Equivalent to £ 100 or more today) for dead adult thylacines and ten shillings for puppies. Official figures show that in this 21-year period the Tasmanian government paid 2184 rewards. About Van Diemen's Land there is no information about their amount paid for dead Thylacine. I have no doubt that the policy of gratification is inserted in a wider context, being used as a strategy of occupation of the island, an incentive for more in the colonization process, an "extra income" to cover diverse expenses. His lists, singularly similar to tigers, served to personify the popular imagination and, undoubtedly, to promote its "ferocity". You can even imagine a child seeing any thylacine and running immediately to your father saying: look there one of them ... shoot shoot. Below some reports and a thought of the time: "Last week, a male animal of the same species as sometime ago destroyed a number of sheep at the facilities of E. LORD, Esq., At Orielton Park, made its appearance among the herd of Mr. GW EVANS, Deputy Surveyor General In Baghdad in less than a week killed thirty sheep, was attacked by seven dogs, and made a sturdy resistance, until finally he was killed with an ax by the butcher. " Hobart City Gazette and Southern Reporter - December 6, 1817. "NATIF TYGER, OR HYENA - Last Sunday, around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as one of the shepherds of Mr. Edward Abbott, June. He tended his master's herd while grazing on his farm in Russell's Falls, New Norfolk, the sheep were suddenly startled by the sight of one of these ferocious animals, who immediately descended a hill, and the man, having a dog with him, soon perceived the hyena chasing the flock to the right of his head when he made a Sudden spring between the sheep, and stuck in a lamb, which he immediately killed. The man then ran up with his dog, but Tyger left before he could get to the spot: the dog however soon after came with The Hyena when turned around and attacked the dog, who with the help of his master finally managed to kill him. The lamb was quite large, about 6 months old.The Tyger measured 6 feet from the nose to the end of A Tail, and is the second that was killed in almost the same place in the last twelve months. " Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser - November 3, 1821. . "Mr. Frank Archer of Landfall informs us that a large native tiger, or hyena (Thylacinus cynocephalus), was killed a few days ago, not far from Launceston. Mr. Archer's pastor at Russell's Plains was out running and Discovered a sheep that had just killed. He sent his dog away, and hearing him barking he ran up and found the dog and a very large native tiger to have a severe fight. Il shot at the tiger, which measures 5 feet 4in the nose to the tip of the tail, killing four sheep before that. " Launceston - July 6, 1887. "It was when he was at a place called The Island on the Macquarie River near Pooms Lake, following his call as pastor to the late Mr. William Burbury, that Mr. William Burbury, that Mr. Willett fully realized that a threat For the success of Tasmanian tiger sheep breeding became. From the Eastern Tiers on the one hand, and from the Western Tiers on the other, a large number of this dreaded animal invaded sheep runs, and heavy losses were recorded. In many cases, the sheep had to be removed from certain more infested areas. Burbury's losses in three consecutive epochs were 450, 350, and 300. A reward of 1 pound per head, when displayed to the police, or any member of the commission formed by shepherds, marked the beginning of the end for the tiger, and their numerous Descendants, for today, if any survive, it can only be in the strength of mountains, far from the haunts of man. The ewes, in their bed lands, or resting places at night, were an easy prey for the cunning tiger, whose method of attacking them seemed to be mainly from the neck, from which blood was sucked; And an entrance made close to the chest. Mr. Weaver bags from a tiger - 1869. "If it is a fact, as many shepherds say, that each tiger destroys two sheep per week at least, a very simple calculation will explain the loss of a few thousand sheep each year, and also point to the need to put down these worms ". Mercury, June 3, 1885. The sensationalistic and largely fictional content of these reports served to create in the popular imagination the threatening figure of the Thylacine (Natif Tyger or Hyena so-called), building a panorama of fear and terror. My perception is of an unequivocal process of behavioral mystification. Thylacine is par excellence a small animal eater, including birds. Wallaby and Kangaroo would be their larger but not their favorite. It was a shy animal, of an elusive habit, solitary or couple, at most male and female with their respective puppies; He did not go around in groups, curious, a born researcher. Monogamy or polygamy is not known. New tests on his jaw indicated a very small chewing force. The accusation of being a predator of sheep is questionable, its approach in "farms of creation" is due much more to the encounter of poultry of the animal than the sheep. According to some reports, either throwing a stone or a simple scream was enough to frighten him away. The invisible predator of the island in this context were the "domestic" dogs, packs occurred in good numbers. Let us also take into account that in the 20th century, The colonists' dogs practically fed on their own. The habit of feeding dogs as we currently have is due to our modern style of living. These dogs may be along with settlers the culprits by extermination of the Emu Tasmanian and an unsorted amount of thylacine. I recently read an article in PLOS ONE featuring Dingo as the preponderant extermination of thylacine in Australian territory. In Australia the British brought the fox to serve as a game. Culturally the habit of hunting is rooted in the British people and thylacine was the perfect target. His hunting also served as entertainment for established farmers. We also report to the entire British colonial process on the countless islands around the world and the extermination provoked by these invaders in the local native fauna, where the total absence of any criterion of common sense in the animal exploration is verified, a method of simple plunder . The existing mentality is that everything and everyone on these islands is owned by the conquerors. It is said that they were affected by: Canine distemper disease- parvovirus - adenovirus - innumerable nematodes - toxoplasmosis - rabies? The context in which diseases are involved, relate to thylacine in captivity. There are no indications during this extermination process of finding tall numbers of dead specimens naturally. In their behavior, the stress of imprisonment and captivity is referred to as a "factor" mortis, even when captured it is relatively common for the animal to collide and die. Much more than bullets were killed, the thylacines were snared within a broad context of hunting, being direct and indirect victims. Snared was the most common form of capture of animals for food use. After 1905 their numbers dropped dramatically, and catch requests for zoos and the like grew exponentially in the face of the species' current rarity. As far as I know, there is no report on the mortality rate of such journeys, notably for London and the United States (after weeks on ships, trains and other land transport the survival rate must have been very low). The process of extinction was very fast, and in terms of behavior the species did not have time to adapt, more cunningly to face their persecution. The Tasmanians Aborígens (Palawa) are the only ones that could really clarify the true hunting behavior of thylacine. When the island's first "official" explorers arrived, no information on the existence of an alleged beast was reported, the natives of the island were not afraid of the animal, had no surveillance behavior over it, not reporting any possibility To suffer attacks. Throughout the colonial process there is no narrative of attacks on any human being, adult or child. In short, like the Palawa the noble animal was, above all, a victim of the brutality of this colonial process. 
Back from the dead? Scientists renew search for extinct Tasmanian Tiger
Posted by: News Mar 28, 2017 Back from the dead? Scientists renew search for extinct Tasmanian Tiger  *This image is copyright of its original author Scientists are launching a search for the extinct Tasmanian tiger (Thylacine) in Far North Queensland after a number of sightings were reported. Researchers will set up more than 50 camera traps in the remote Cape York Peninsula in the hope of spotting Tasmanian tigers, a species which was declared extinct in 1936. There is no doubt that the wolf-like Tasmanian tigers once existed on the Australian mainland as physical remains (both fossils and non-fossils) have been found and Aboriginal rock art also features the animal. Brian Hobbs, a former tourism operator, revealed a few weeks ago that he’d seen a family of Tasmanian tigers in 1983 when he was walking his dog at night while on a camping trip. Hobbs says he saw the animals clearly in his flashlight from about 20 feet away. “These animals, I’ve never seen anything like them before in my life,” he told Australia’s ABC news network. “They were dog-shaped — I had a shepherd with me so I certainly know what dogs are about — and in the spotlight I could see they were tan in color and they had stripes on their sides.” The other credible sighting was by former Park Ranger Patrick Shears, who says not only has he seen a Tasmanian tiger, but that Aboriginal people in the area see them frequently. “They pretty well confirmed that they know about a dog-like creature — not a dingo — that’s often seen at night,” he said, the Telegraph reports. “They call it the ‘moonlight tiger’… They’re curious. If you’re not moving and not making a noise they’ll come within a reasonable range and check you out then just trot off.” Professors Bill Laurance and Sandra Abell of James Cook University will lead the search for the animals in Cape York, in northeastern Australia. Fifty camera traps will be set up in the region in hopes of documenting the officially extinct animal’s existence. Laurance told ABC he finds Hobb’s sighting especially solid. “We have cross-checked the descriptions we received of eye shine color, body size and shape, animal behavior, and other attributes, and these are inconsistent with known attributes of other large-bodied species in north Queensland such as dingoes, wild dogs or feral pigs,” he told the Telegraph. Though admittedly it would be very unlikely for the species to have survived at such low numbers as to escape detection, “You learn in science to never say never [because] every time we think we know everything it turns around and bites us on the backside,” Laurance told ABC. Although commonly called the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, the thylacine has more in common with its marsupial cousin the Tasmanian Devil. With a head like a wolf, striped body like a tiger and backward facing pouch like a wombat, the thylacine was as unbelievable as the platypus which had caused disbelief and uproar in Europe when it was first described. The thylacine looked like a long dog with stripes, a heavy stiff tail and a big head. A fully grown thylacine could measure 180cm from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, stand 58cm high at the shoulder and weigh about 30 kilograms. It had short, soft fur that was brown except for the thick black stripes which extended from the base of the tail to the shoulders. Abell told ABC time is of the essence in the Tassie tiger hunt. “We have had declines in our mammals all through Cape York and through Australia, so my concern is that if we leave it too much longer to just go and have a look then we could actually miss out on seeing something,” she said. And though the odds are long, this wouldn’t be the first time camera traps found a species thought to be extinct in Cape York: “We’ve just rediscovered a population of northern bettong where there had been no records since 2003,” Abell pointed out. The survey will also help collect general information about species in Cape York, an area on which relatively little data has been collected, the researchers say. The Telegraph points out that scientists in Australia have been attempting to clone the Tasmanian tiger, and that Tasmanian tour operator Stuart Malcolm has offered an $1.3 million for proof the animals exist today.
'All of a sudden I have these sets of red eyes looking at me': Man claims he encountered a FAMILY of Tasmanian tigers while camping in far north Queensland
By KATE DARVALL and CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA PUBLISHED: 03:59 BST, 18 March 2017 | UPDATED: 02:52 BST, 28 March 2017
Queensland tourism operator Brian Hobbs claims the Tasmanian Tiger is not extinct at all after he reportedly saw the animal in Queensland's remote Cape York. Mr Hobbs revealed his unlikely encounter with the Tasmanian Tiger - officially known as the thylacine - while camping in the far north Queensland town n 1983. The Tasmanian Tiger (pictured) has been extinct since the early 1930s but people swear they have sighted the animal in years since  *This image is copyright of its original author 'I was walking around the camp towards this ravine area… and all of a sudden I have these sets of red eyes looking at me,' he told the ABC on Friday. Mr Hobbs said the red eyes belonged to a family of Tasmanian Tigers - a male, female and two young pups. 'Now these animals, I've never seen anything like them before in my life. They're dog shaped and in the spotlight I can see they're tan in colour and have the stripes on their side,' he said. 'I was thinking to myself "now what in heavens have I seen?" I'd never seen anything like them before, ever.' Mr Hobbs said the red eyes belonged to a family of Tasmanian Tigers, a male, female and two young pups (stock)  *This image is copyright of its original author Mr Hobbs claims to have spotted the animal while camping in Queensland's Cape York (pictured)  *This image is copyright of its original author Mr Hobbs told the ABC he came within 20 metres of the animals who made no noise and no sign of aggression. He said the curious but cautious animals paid him a visit once more that night, peering into his camp site before wandering back off into the bush. Now 34 years later, Mr Hobbs said he never forgot the moment he 'saw' the elusive Tasmanian Tiger. The reported sighting comes two months after a trail camera reportedly captured the Tasmanian Tiger on the other side of the country in Perth. While the last known thylacine died in Hobart Zoo in 1936, hundreds of people claim to have seen it  *This image is copyright of its original author The Thylacine Awareness Group claims to have captured the animal on camera on the outskirts of Perth in January. Members of Victorian Wildlife Research/ Rescue said they left a camera on a bush trail for three weeks in 2014 before returning to collect the tape. After going through hundreds of hours of footage, the team discovered a few grainy seconds of a large dog-like animals moving through the undergrowth. The footage was widely circulated online, garnering huge attention in November last year. The Tasmanian Tiger
 *This image is copyright of its original author [In the link there is the footage] While an animal was clearly captured on the footage, its legitimacy was questioned. It was not the first time wildlife watchers claimed to have captured a thylacine on camera. In September, residents in the Adelaide Hills claimed to have captured a thylacine rooting around some bins in blurry footage. For a split second an auburn-coloured creature can be seen slipping between fence posts around a set of houses. Claims of another Tasmanian Tiger sighting surfaced in September, this time in Adelaide Hills, after this amateur footage was posted online  *This image is copyright of its original author While the animal could easily have been a fox, the appearance of the thinner and stubbier tail attracted attention. Several groups carrying out amateur research into the thylacine pointed to the clip being genuine, though more prominent researchers cast doubt on the claims. Catherine Kemper, a researcher from the South Australian Museum, told ABC she thought it was extremely unlikely. She said every photo or video claiming to show the animal was poor quality, and thought it strange no good quality photos or video had emerged. James Cook University research professor Bill Laurance has not ruled out the possibility the Tasmanian Tiger (pictured) still existed  *This image is copyright of its original author Other researchers did not rule out the possibility the animal was still around, albeit elusive. James Cook University research professor Bill Laurance told the ABC people should 'never say never'. He said he was open to the possibility of their continued existence because 'every time we think we know everything it turns around and bites us on the backside'.
@Ngala, some comments.
This news comes against all rationality. Comparing possibilities by exemplifying a rediscovered animal (Bettong), missing since 2003 (14 years only) with an animal that has been extinct in mainland Australia for about 2,000 years is too. It presents two reports "beyond suspicion" to justify another insane search for a nonexistent animal. In Tasmania the time of extinction is recent and in the course of that time countless went to the expeditions in search of this animal, not to mention the thousands of anonymous who looked for the Thylacine in search of notoriety and money. The Far North Queensland region is the perfect habitat for missing Australian animals. Around the world, "the supposed sightings of extinct animals are notorious," it is not necessary to exemplify animals regularly seen by hundreds and / or thousands of people in their old areas of origin, after all we all hear and know. Not to mention the animals that Cryptozoology studies, such as Bigfoot. What causes thousands of people to see and propound something that no longer exists or never existed? There is a multifaceted industry that economically exploits the image of animals that have been extinguished in their natural lands, as well as mythical animals. Thylacine is an animal that provokes empathy, desires and dreams to one day see them again, a worldwide appeal, where every newsprint emblazoned on it appears in the headlines scattered all over the world, is a powerful marketing tool.
Undoubtedly, Thylacine is a strong candidate to be the first extinct animal to return. In this field, the more genetic science advances, the more problems and challenges emerge. The diversity of genes, their functions and their evolution in extinct DNA is a task that is still in its early stages. How to teach a Tylacine to behave as such? Clone = a being without identity and without past. How to genetically diversify identical homozygous individuals? The biological resurrection is in its prehistory, it is only a conceptual state, its approach is really sensationalistic and "pseudo scientists" like Michael Archer in order to notoriety and funds for his daring projects say absurd things that only 5 or 10 Years later it will be possible to revive him. Producing and reproducing a living being taken from extinction, taking into account all the biological and genetic criteria that constitute and grounds a healthy and viable being, will still take many decades before something practical happens in this field.
The movie The Hunt (2011) with Willem Dafoe: A hunter is hired to harvest genetic material from the last living Thylacine and exterminate it so that no other corporation gets its DNA. In the last scene of the film, the animal aware of its situation and loneliness seeks the hunter......
Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) White, Mitchell & Austin, 2017
Abstract: Aim The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, is an infamous example of a recent human-mediated extinction. Confined to the island of Tasmania in historical times, thylacines were hunted to extinction <150 years after European arrival. Thylacines were also once widespread across the Australian mainland, but became extinct there c. 3,200 years before present (bp). Very little is known about thylacine biology and population history; the cause of the thylacines extirpation from the mainland is still debated and the reasons for its survival in Tasmania into the 20th century are unclear. In this study, we investigate the thylacine's phylogeography and demographic history leading up to their extinction on both the mainland and Tasmania to gain insight into this enigmatic species. Location Southern Australia. Methods We generated 51 new thylacine mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequences from sub-fossil remains and historical museum specimens, and analysed them to reconstruct the species’ phylogeography and demographic history. Results We found evidence that thylacines had contracted into separate eastern and western populations prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 25,000 yr bp), and that the ancient western population was larger and more genetically diverse than the historical Tasmanian population. At the time of European arrival in c. 1800 CE, Tasmanian thylacines had limited mtDNA diversity, possibly resulting from a bottleneck event broadly coincident with an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) associated climate event, although we find some indication that the population was expanding during the late Holocene. Main Conclusions The timing of this putative expansion, in concert with a climate event, suggests that climate change had an influence on thylacine population dynamics. Given that ENSO effects are known to have been more severe on mainland Australia, we suggest that climate change, in synergy with other drivers, is likely to have contributed to the thylacine mainland extinction. Other articles related: Drought not dingos behind mainland Australia tiger extinction: study
Fake or real? This photo of the thylacine has caused a lot of controversy
BY ANGELA HEATHCOTE | JANUARY 10, 2018 The photo in question. IMAGE CREDIT: Harry Burrell  *This image is copyright of its original author Since it was first captured back in the 1920s, this image of the thylacine gripping a chicken in its mouth has been embroiled in debates over its authenticity and its impact on the now extinct Aussie animal. BACK IN 1921, esteemed Australian amateur naturalist Harry Burrell captured a photo of the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) holding a chicken in its mouth for The Australian Museum Magazine. Historians and scientists throughout the years have argued that the photo bolstered the idea that thylacines were a threat to the livestock of Australian farmers — a myth that persisted well after the bounty on their heads was removed after 21 years in 1909. The debate surrounding the authenticity of the image has continued to rage on. Especially after a newly discovered note left behind by one of Burrell’s former associates claimed that the thylacine in the photograph is not a live animal, but a mounted specimen placed against a “bush background.” It wasn’t until 2005, that Carol Freeman, an Adjunct Researcher at the University of Tasmania, used digital imaging programs to determine whether or not the image was authentic. For her, the image itself, which she says, is one of the last negative representations of the thylacine in zoological work, points to the “deceptive potential” of photography and its impact on wildlife. Harry Burrell, the photographer Carol tells Australian Geographic that Harry may have had a motivation for submitting a false image to the Australian Museum for publication. “It’s very difficult to get inside the mind of Harry and surmise what his intentions were. I’ve suggested that he may have had a good reason for trying to trick the Australian Museum. He was an amateur naturalist and amateurs weren’t always treated with respect,” she says. “While conducting my research I found a number of documents, including complaints about not receiving funding for some of the work he was doing or intended to do. It must have been very frustrating.” Carol also says that Harry was well-known for making jokes and being relatively extroverted. “He was a comedian; everyone said he was a larger than life character who was clever at building dioramas and making suggestions about them and the representation of animals. That to me was circumstantial evidence.” However, if it was a prank, she says she doubts that he meant to cause the thylacine any harm. “We’re immersed in our own little worlds and what interests us and how we see things, not the bigger picture of what might happen. I think Tasmanian farmers and even naturalists bore much more ill intent with the thylacine than Harry Burrell.” The case of Norman Laird Carol first began doubting the authenticity of the photo when she came across a reproduction of the image alongside a small note left by Norman Laird, an associate of Harry Burrell at the Institute of Anatomy in Canberra in the 1930s, whose archives she had been studying. The note left by Laird said that the specimen was in fact a taxidermy set up in a “bush background.” Carol, intrigued by the case made by Norman, decided to request access to the original glass-packed negatives held by the Australian Museum. “I could see that the image had actually been cropped to make it look like the thylacine was in the wild based on the original file. “When I looked at it even closer with digital imaging I could also see that the bush was cut branches that were placed against hessian. The whole thing seems completely staged. “I believed that Norman Laird was right and so I formed a very detailed analysis supporting the argument that he was right.” Unfortunately though, many have argued that the damage has already been done. "Robert Paddle, Australia's leading expert on the thylacine, is of the belief that the image was responsible for a blossoming of the idea that the thylacine was a sheep and pultry predator, which had wide ranging implications for the animal." 
More than 80 years after the last known sighting of a thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, rumours still swirl as to whether the striped carnivore — once Australia's top predator — continues to roam the state's vast, rugged wilds.
But a recent right to information document released by the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) has reignited imaginations of the marsupial's continued existence. The document features numerous accounts from farmers, bushwalkers, locals and tourists, all claiming to have caught a glimpse of the mysterious creature between September 2016 and September 2019. The Tasmanian Government department received eight separate reports of thylacine "sightings" — some seen with cubs, often at dusk or dawn in the northern and western parts of the state. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-16/t...i/11602970
Widespread cis-regulatory convergence between the extinct Tasmanian tiger and gray wolf
Abstract The extinct marsupial Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, and the eutherian gray wolf are among the most widely recognized examples of convergent evolution in mammals. Despite being distantly related, these large predators independently evolved extremely similar craniofacial morphologies, and evidence suggests that they filled similar ecological niches. Previous analyses revealed little evidence of adaptive convergence between their protein-coding genes. Thus, the genetic basis of their convergence is still unclear. Here, we identified candidate craniofacial cis-regulatory elements across vertebrates and compared their evolutionary rates in the thylacine and wolf, revealing abundant signatures of convergent positive selection. Craniofacial thylacine–wolf accelerated regions were enriched near genes involved in TGF beta (TGFB) and BMP signaling, both of which are key morphological signaling pathways with critical roles in establishing the identities and boundaries between craniofacial tissues. Similarly, enhancers of genes involved in craniofacial nerve development showed convergent selection and involvement in these pathways. Taken together, these results suggest that adaptation in cis-regulators of TGF beta and BMP signaling may provide a mechanism to explain the coevolution of developmentally and functionally integrated craniofacial structures in these species. We also found that despite major structural differences in marsupial and eutherian brains, accelerated regions in both species were common near genes with roles in brain development. Our findings support the hypothesis that, relative to protein-coding genes, positive selection on cis-regulatory elements is likely to be an essential driver of adaptive convergent evolution and may underpin thylacine–wolf phenotypic similarities. 
" Last Tasmanian Tiger, Thylacine, 1933 ?
The thylacine, from Ancient Greek θύλακος thúlakos, "pouch, sack" + Latin -inus "-ine") (Thylacinus cynocephalus), now extinct, is one of the largest known carnivorous marsupials, evolving about 4 million years ago. The last known live animal was captured in 1933 in Tasmania. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger because of its striped lower back, or the Tasmanian wolf because of its canid-like characteristics. It was native to Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Australian mainland. This is the last one, died in 1936. Credit: ARKive, BBC " |
| Users browsing this thread: |
| 2 Guest(s) |