Daily Weird News Report
The extinct Tasmanian tiger may have hunted less like its namesake and more like a fox, according to a University of the Sunshine Coast-led study published in BMC Ecology and Evolution.
Researchers compared the movement of 48 living and extinct predatory mammal species, including domestic dogs and African wildcats. The thylacine—a meat-eating marsupial with a striped, doglike body and pouch—was included in the analysis despite becoming globally extinct in Tasmania during the 1930s.
The study placed the thylacine in a group described as “opportunistic pouncers.” Animals in this category use short bursts of movement and take advantage of prey that becomes available. The researchers said the thylacine’s movement was more consistently associated with foxes, jackals and coyotes than with grapplers such as tigers and wolves.
To make the comparison, the team examined archival footage and used biomechanical analysis to track changes in posture and movement. Lead author Joshua Gaschk created videos showing how anatomical markers were followed throughout each animal’s stride. The method tracked the forelimbs, hind limbs, spine and head through both space and time, allowing the researchers to compare natural gaits across species.
The animals were sorted into five broad clusters representing different hunting approaches, from social pursuit hunters to predators that grapple with or pounce on prey. The researchers reported that hunting ecology was most apparent during fast, high-performance movements linked to acceleration, maneuvering and capturing prey.
Walking movements were more strongly shaped by evolutionary history, although they still contained information about hunting behavior. The study therefore used movement patterns—not direct observations of thylacine hunts—to infer how the extinct marsupial may have pursued prey such as wallabies, possums and rodents.
The researchers said the same techniques could eventually help conservation efforts by improving understanding of how movement relates to hunting behavior in endangered species. The study was led by Christofer Clemente and Gaschk, with collaborators from the University of the Sunshine Coast, Yale University and the University of Tasmania.
