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Kitchen Table Kibitzing 9/7/22: The Last Thylacine [1]

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Date: 2022-09-07

Raise a glass to Benjamin

86 years ago the last Thylacine, or Tasmanian “Tiger,” perished of probable neglect in a zoo in Hobart, Australia. Benjamin succumbed to hypothermia after being accidentally locked out of his sleeping quarters.

The last captive thylacine, often referred to as Benjamin, lived as an endling; (the known last of its species), at Hobart Zoo until its death on the night of September 6, 1936.[113] Its source has long been disputed. Until recently, Elias Churchill was regularly quoted as being the captor, but there appears to be little evidence to support this claim. Two more recent candidates are far better placed evidentially as the probable source – the Kaine capture near Preolenna in 1931[114] and the Delphin capture near Waratah in 1930.[115] The thylacine died on the night of 6–7 September 1936. It is believed to have died as the result of neglect—locked out of its sheltered sleeping quarters, it was exposed to a rare occurrence of extreme Tasmanian weather: extreme heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night.

The thylacine was a marsupial that looked like a dog with stripes.

The thylacine was relatively shy and nocturnal, with the general appearance of a medium-to-large-size canid, except for its stiff tail and abdominal pouch similar to that of a kangaroo. Because of convergent evolution, it displayed an anatomy and adaptations similar to the tiger (Panthera tigris) and wolf (Canis lupus) of the Northern Hemisphere, such as dark transverse stripes that radiated from the top of its back, and a skull shape extremely similar to those of canids, despite being unrelated. The thylacine was a formidable apex predator,[6] though exactly how large its prey animals were is disputed. Its closest living relatives are the other members of Dasyuromorphia, including the Tasmanian devil and quolls. The thylacine was one of only two marsupials known to have a pouch in both sexes: the other (still extant) species is the water opossum from Central and South America. The pouch of the male thylacine served as a protective sheath, covering the external reproductive organs.

x When Europeans invaded Australia, #thylacines had been absent from the mainland for c 3000yrs and present only on Tasmania. Persecution meant that it was soon declining here too: the last known individual (a captive, often said – incorrectly – to be named Benjamin) died in 1936.. pic.twitter.com/Rafyuhjon0 — Darren Naish (@TetZoo) August 28, 2020

Since Benjamin’s sad death, the thylacine has joined Bigfoot, the Yeti and Nessie as a popular myth for cryptozoologists.

Why do people think they're still around? It's complex, but I don't buy any of this stuff about it being due to people being romantic, or aiming to allay guilt about causing the animal's extinction.... it all comes down to standards of evidence and where you think 'real expertise' lies. Just like with Nessie and any other mystery creature, there are a number of dodgy, vague reports which are – however poor – still 'good enough' to make some people think that the animal is still being seen. And the people who follow this idea of late survival tend (as a generalisation) to put more stock in amateur observers than relevant qualified scientists.

The thylacine is gone for good, another casualty of humans’ casual contempt for the planet we live on.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/7/2107556/-Kitchen-Table-Kibitzing-9-7-22-The-Last-Thylacine

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