The last of these predators disappeared 90 years ago — scientists have now worked out how it hunted

A new study of thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) skulls paints a different picture. Despite its enormous head, its jaws were probably not designed to hold a large animal for long, but rather to deliver a quick and powerful ‘snapping’ bite to small, agile prey.

Details

Researchers from Flinders University and the University of Melbourne analysed the structure of preserved thylacine skulls and compared them with those of modern carnivorous mammals.

It was the combination of these features itself that proved unusual. On average, the thylacine weighed about half as much as a grey wolf, yet its skull could be almost the same size. At the same time, its muzzle was long and relatively slender — not at all as massive as that of predators that have to seize and hold onto large, struggling prey.

According to the scientists’ calculations, the long jaw allowed its tip to move at high speed when biting. The large and deep skull, in turn, was able to withstand the resulting stress.

This design is better suited to the sudden capture of a small, fast animal, such as a bandicoot, than to wrestling with a sheep.

The authors even draw a functional parallel with certain crocodiles and predatory fish, which use long jaws for rapid strikes. This does not mean that the thylacine hunted like a crocodile — the similarity relates only to the mechanics of the bite.

Scientists cannot directly verify this reconstruction: the last confirmed thylacine died at Hobart Zoo in 1936.

By that time, the species had already been virtually wiped out. European settlers blamed thylacines for attacks on sheep, and the Tasmanian authorities had been offering bounties for killed animals since the late 19th century. Intensive persecution is considered the main factor in the species’ extinction. Habitat loss, a decline in prey, disease and competition with dogs may have played a further role, although the contribution of each of these factors remains a matter of debate.

Why this matters

The new study does not prove that thylacines never attacked sheep. It shows something else: their skull does not appear to be specialised for regularly capturing and holding large prey, as is the case with wolves.

This is particularly noteworthy given the history of the species’ extinction. The image of the dangerous ‘sheep killer’ was used to justify its persecution, although the actual extent of the damage to the sheep industry remained controversial.

The study also highlights the limits of the famous resemblance between the thylacine and the wolf. These animals were evolutionarily very distant from one another: the thylacine was a marsupial. Outwardly, they independently developed a similar form, but behind the similar silhouette lay different hunting adaptations.

The idea that it hunted small prey is not new: previous biomechanical studies had already suggested that the thylacine’s skull was ill-suited to taking on large animals. The new study refines the possible mechanism — a large head and long jaws may have enabled a particularly fast and powerful biting strike.

Source

Study:“Skull morphology of the extinct Tasmanian tiger suggests unique biting style”.

Authors: Vera Weisbecker, Andrew J. Pask, Axel H. Newton, Douglass S. Rovinsky.

Journal: Nature Communications, 2026.