Editing Thylacine (section)

==Taxonomic and evolutionary history==
[[File:Thylacine harris cropped.jpg|thumb|The earliest known non-indigenous illustration of a thylacine; from Harris' 1808 description]]
Numerous examples of thylacine engravings and [[Indigenous Australian art|rock art]] have been found, dating back to at least 1000&nbsp;BC.<ref name="rockart">{{cite web| url= http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1265476.htm| title= Rock art shows attempts to save thylacine|author=Salleh, Anna| publisher= ABC Science Online|date=15 December 2004| access-date=21 November 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150416015323/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/ancient/AncientRepublish_1265476.htm|archive-date=16 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Petroglyph]] images of the thylacine can be found at the Dampier Rock Art Precinct, on the [[Burrup Peninsula]] in Western Australia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mulvaney |first1=Ken J. |date=2009 |title=Dating the Dreaming: Extinct fauna in the petroglyphs of the Pilbara region, Western Australia |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |volume=44 |pages=40–48 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2009.tb00067.x}}</ref>

By the time the first European explorers arrived, the animal was already extinct in mainland Australia and New Guinea and rare in Tasmania. Europeans may have encountered it in Tasmania as far back as 1642, when [[Abel Tasman]] first arrived in Tasmania. His shore party reported seeing the footprints of "wild beasts having claws like a ''Tyger''".<ref name="REMP">{{cite journal | last= Rembrants| first= D. | year= 1682| title=A short relation out of the journal of Captain Abel Jansen Tasman, upon the discovery of the ''South Terra incognita''; not long since published in the Low Dutch| journal= Philosophical Collections of the Royal Society of London| number= 6| pages= 179–186}} Quoted in [[#Paddle|Paddle (2000)]], p. 3.</ref> [[Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne]], arriving with the ''Mascarin'' in 1772, reported seeing a "tiger cat".<ref name= "ROTHP">Roth, H. L. (1891) "Crozet's Voyage to Tasmania, New Zealand, etc.&nbsp;... 1771–1772.". London. Truslove and Shirley. Quoted in [[#Paddle|Paddle (2000)]], p. 3.</ref>

The first definitive encounter was by French explorers on 13 May 1792, as noted by the naturalist [[Jacques Labillardière]], in his journal from the expedition led by [[d'Entrecasteaux]]. In 1805, [[William Paterson (governor)|William Paterson]], the Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania, sent a detailed description for publication in the ''[[Sydney Gazette]]''.<ref name= "LTT1">[[#Paddle|Paddle (2000)]], p. 3.</ref> He also sent a description of the thylacine in a letter to [[Joseph Banks]], dated 30 March 1805.<ref>Description of a Tasmanian Tiger Received by Banks from William Paterson, 30 March 1805. (n.d.). Sir Joseph Banks Papers, State Library of New South Wales, [http://digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?embedded=true&toolbar=false&dps_pid=FL3224270 SAFE/Banks Papers/Series 27.33] {{Webarchive| url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124423/http://digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?embedded=true&toolbar=false&dps_pid=FL3224270 |date=9 February 2019 }}</ref>

The first detailed scientific description was made by Tasmania's Deputy Surveyor-General, [[George Prideaux Robert Harris|George Harris]], in 1808, five years after first European settlement of the island.<ref name= "Harris1808" /><ref name= museum>{{cite web |url= http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/infosheets/10283.pdf |title=Information sheet: Thylacine ''Thylacinus cynocephalus'' | website= museum.vic.gov.au |publisher= Victoria Museum |date= April 2005 | access-date =21 November 2006| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061109214310/http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/infosheets/10283.pdf |archive-date = 9 November 2006| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="AFD">{{cite web |url= http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Thylacinus_cynocephalus |title=''Thylacinus cynocephalus'' (Harris, 1808) |date=9 October 2008 |work=Australian Faunal Directory |publisher=[[Australian Biological Resources Study]] |access-date=2 May 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121004181952/http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/Thylacinus_cynocephalus |archive-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Harris originally placed the thylacine in the genus ''[[Didelphis]]'', which had been created by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] for the American [[opossum]]s, describing it as ''Didelphis cynocephala'', the "dog-headed opossum". Recognition that the Australian marsupials were fundamentally different from the known mammal genera led to the establishment of the modern classification scheme, and in 1796, [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire|Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]] created the genus ''[[Dasyurus]]'', where he placed the thylacine in 1810. To maintain [[agreement_(linguistics)#Gender|gender agreement]] with the genus name, the species name was altered to ''cynocephalus''. In 1824, it was separated out into its own genus, ''Thylacinus'', by [[Coenraad Jacob Temminck|Temminck]].<ref name="LTT2">[[#Paddle|Paddle (2000)]], p. 5.</ref> The common name derives directly from the genus name, originally from the Greek {{lang|el|θύλακος}} ({{transliteration|el|thýlakos}}), meaning "pouch" or "sack" and ''ine'' meaning "pertaining to".<ref name="OED">{{cite book|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology| editor= Hoad, T. F. |year= 1986| location= Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn = 978-0-19-863120-0}}</ref> The name is pronounced {{respell|THY|lə-seen}}<ref>{{cite book | title = Macquarie ABC Dictionary | publisher=The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. | year = 2003 | page = 1032 | isbn = 978-1-876429-37-9}}</ref> or {{respell|THY|lə-syne}}.<ref>{{OED|thylacine}}</ref>

=== Evolution ===
[[File:Dasyuromorphia portraits.jpg|thumb|The thylacine was a basal member of [[Dasyuromorphia]], an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials]][[File:Thylacine and Coyote skulls.jpg|thumb|Thylacine skull cast (bottom) and [[coyote]] skull (top), at the [[Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology]].]]The earliest records of the modern thylacine are from the [[Early Pleistocene]], with the oldest known fossil record in southeastern Australia from the [[Calabrian (stage)|Calabrian]] age around 1.77–0.78 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Piper| first1= Katarzyna J.| year=2007|title=Early Pleistocene mammals from the Nelson Bay local fauna, Portland, Victoria, Australia| journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=27|issue=2|pages=492–503| doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[492:EPMFTN]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=130610478 }}</ref> Specimens from the [[Pliocene]]-aged Chinchilla Fauna, described as ''Thylacinus rostralis'' by [[Charles De Vis]] in 1894, have in the past been suggested to represent ''Thylacinus cynocephalus'', but have been shown to either have been curatorial errors, or ambiguous in their specific attribution.<ref name="chinchilla">Mackness, B. S., et al. "Confirmation of ''Thylacinus'' from the Pliocene Chinchilla Local Fauna". ''Australian Mammalogy''. 24.2 (2002): 237–242.</ref><ref name="Jackson2015">{{cite book |last1= Jackson |first1=S.M. |last2=Groves |first2= C. |title=Taxonomy of Australian Mammals |date=2015 |publisher=Csiro Publishing |isbn=9781486300136 |page= [https://books.google.com/books?id=RPznCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 77]}}</ref><ref name="REA19" /> The family [[Thylacinidae]] includes at least 12 species in eight genera. Thylacinids are estimated to have split from other members of [[Dasyuromorphia]] around 42–36 million years ago.<ref name="REA19">{{cite journal |last1=Rovinsky |first1= Douglass S. |first2=Alistair R. |last2= Evans |first3=Justin W. |last3= Adams |title=The pre-Pleistocene fossil thylacinids (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae) and the evolutionary context of the modern thylacine| journal= PeerJ |date=2019 |volume=7 |at=e7457 |doi= 10.7717/peerj.7457| pmid= 31534836|pmc=6727838|doi-access=free }}</ref> The earliest representative of the family is ''[[Badjcinus turnbulli]]'' from the Late Oligocene of [[Riversleigh World Heritage Area|Riversleigh]] in Queensland,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Muirhead |first1=J. |last2=Wroe |first2=S. |date=1998 |title=A new genus and species, ''Badjcinus turnbulli'' (Thylacinidae: Marsupialia), from the late Oligocene of Riversleigh, northern Australia, and an investigation of thylacinid phylogeny. |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=612–626 |bibcode=1998JVPal..18..612M |doi=10.1080/02724634.1998.10011088}}</ref> around 25 million years ago.<ref name="REA19" /> Early thylacinids were [[quoll]]-sized, well under {{cvt|10|kg}}. It probably ate insects and small reptiles and mammals, although signs of an increasingly-carnivorous diet can be seen as early as the early [[Miocene]] in ''[[Wabulacinus ridei|Wabulacinus]]''.<ref name="REA19" /> Members of the genus ''[[Thylacinus]]'' are notable for a dramatic increase in both the expression of carnivorous dental traits and in size, with the largest species, ''[[Thylacinus potens]]'' and ''[[Thylacinus megiriani]]'', both approaching the size of a wolf.<ref name="REA19" /> In [[late Pleistocene]] and early [[Holocene]] times, the modern thylacine was widespread (although never numerous) throughout Australia and New Guinea.<ref name="Dingo">{{cite journal |author1= Johnson, C. N.| author2=Wroe, S.| date=November 2003|title=Causes of extinction of vertebrates during the Holocene of mainland Australia: arrival of the dingo, or human impact?|journal=The Holocene |volume= 13| issue=6|pages=941–948| doi= 10.1191/0959683603hl682fa| bibcode= 2003Holoc..13..941J| s2cid= 15386196}}</ref>
A classic example of [[convergent evolution]], the thylacine showed many similarities to the members of the dog family, [[Canidae]], of the Northern Hemisphere: sharp teeth, powerful jaws, [[digitigrade|raised heels]], and the same general body form. Since the thylacine filled the same [[ecological niche]] in Australia and New Guinea as canids did elsewhere, it developed many of the same features. Despite this, as a marsupial, it is unrelated to any of the Northern Hemisphere [[Placentalia|placental mammal]] predators.<ref name="PWS2">{{cite web|title=Threatened Species: Thylacine&nbsp;– Tasmanian tiger, ''Thylacinus cynocephalus''| date= December 2003| website= parks.tas.gov.au| publisher=Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania |url= http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/factsheets/threatened_species/Thylacine.pdf| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061002050127/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/factsheets/threatened_species/Thylacine.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2006| access-date=22 November 2006}}</ref>

The thylacine is a [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] member of the [[Dasyuromorphia]], along with [[numbat]]s, [[dunnart]]s, [[wambenger]]s, and quolls. The [[cladogram]] follows:<ref name= "GR1">{{cite journal |title=The mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tasmanian tiger (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') |journal=Genome Res. |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=213–220 |date=February 2009 |pmid=19139089 |pmc=2652203 |doi= 10.1101/gr.082628.108 | last1 = Miller | first1 = W | last2 = Drautz | first2 = DI | last3 = Janecka | first3 = JE |display-authors=etal }}</ref>
{{clade| styl=font-size:100%; line-height:100%
|label1=[[Dasyuromorphia]]
|1={{clade
 |1='''''Thylacinus''''' ('''thylacines''')[[File:Thylacinus cynocephalus white background.jpg|80 px]]
 |2={{clade
  |1=''[[Myrmecobius]]'' (numbat)[[File:A hand-book to the marsupialia and monotremata (Plate XXX) (white background).jpg|60 px]]
  |2={{clade
   |1=''[[Sminthopsis]]'' (dunnarts)[[File:The zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus and Terror (Sminthopsis leucopus).jpg|60 px]]
   |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Phascogale]]'' (wambengers)[[File:Phascogale calura Gould white background.jpg|60 px]]
    |2=''[[Dasyurus]]'' (quolls)[[File:Dasyurus viverrinus Gould white background.jpg|60 px]]}} }} }} }} }}
[[Phylogeny]] of Thylacinidae after Rovinsky et al. (2019)<ref name= "REA19" />

{{Clade|{{Clade
|label1=[[Thylacinidae]]
|1={{clade   |1=''[[Badjcinus turnbulli]]''
   |2={{Clade
      |1={{Clade
         |1=''[[Nimbacinus dicksoni]]''
         |2={{Clade
            |1=''[[Muribacinus gadiyuli]]''
            |2=''[[Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi]]''
         }} }}
      |2={{Clade
         |1=''[[Tyarrpecinus rothi]]''
         |2={{Clade
           |label2=''[[Thylacinus]]''
            |1=''[[Wabulacinus ridei]]''
            |2={{Clade
               |1=''[[Thylacinus macknessi]]''
               |2={{Clade
                  |1=''[[Thylacinus potens]]''
                  |2={{Clade
                     |1=''[[Thylacinus megiriani]]''
                     |2=''[[Thylacinus yorkellus]]''
                     |3='''''Thylacinus cynocephalus'''''
}} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}}}