The pre-Pleistocene fossil thylacinids (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae) and the evolutionary context of the modern thylacine

• Published in: PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) Vol. 7; p. e7457
• Main Authors: Rovinsky, Douglass S, Evans, Alistair R, Adams, Justin W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States PeerJ. Ltd 02.09.2019; PeerJ, Inc; PeerJ Inc
• Subjects: Adaptation; Body mass; Carnivores; Convergent evolution; Ecosystems; Evolution; Evolution (Biology); Evolutionary Studies; Fossils; Future predictions; Hypercarnivory; Marsupial; Morphology; Paleontology; Parsimony; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Placenta; Radiation (Physics); Tasmanian tiger; Thylacinidae; Thylacinus cynocephalus; Trends; Zoology; Thylacinus cynocephalus; Body mass; Marsupial; Parsimony; Hypercarnivory; Middle Miocene climatic transition; Phylogeny; Tasmanian tiger

The thylacine is popularly used as a classic example of convergent evolution between placental and marsupial mammals. Despite having a fossil history spanning over 20 million years and known since the 1960s, the thylacine is often presented in both scientific literature and popular culture as an evo...