Mini 'Tasmanian Tiger' Hunted Larger Prey than Itself

First Posted: Apr 10, 2014 11:02 AM EDT
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Though Nimbacinus dicksoni--an ancient relative of the Tasmanian tiger--has long been extinct, don't let pictures of this puny little animal fool you. They were huge hunters that often preyed on those larger than themselves.

Researchers at the University of New England and the University of New South Wales studied the skull of N. dicksoni to discover that this 11-pound creature had quite a high bite force for its size, with the power to hunt and even consume much larger creatures. The skeleton was discovered in the mid-1990s in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Australia, a region that was once covered in lowland rainforests. Researchers used virtual 3D reconstruction techniques to compare the skull with other models from large marsupial carnivores, including the Tasmanian devil, northern quoll and of course, the Tasmanian tiger.

"Its face looked like a cross between a cat and an opossum," said study lead author Marie Attard, a zoologist at the University of New England in Australia, according to nbc.news.

Stephen Wroe, another study researcher added that, "For at least 15 million years the thylacinids were key players in Australia's carnivorous marsupial community."

Nimbacinus belonged to an extinct family of marsupial carnivores known as the thylacinds, consisting of 12 species, according to Mother Nature Network.

The modern thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was larger, with similar stature to a medium-sized dog, weighing in at 40 to 70 pounds.

Many believe that hunting drove N. dicksoni  to extinction. As the creatures were known for killing sheep, they also had small-sized jaws that might have made hunting larger animals difficult at times, according to previous studies.

"Our findings suggest that Nimbacinus dicksoni was an opportunistic hunter, with potential prey including birds, frogs, lizards and snakes, as well as a wide range of marsupials. In contrast, the iconic Tasmanian tiger was considerably more specialized than large living dasyurids and Nimbacinus, and was likely more restricted in the range of prey it could hunt, making it more vulnerable to extinction," Attard concluded, via a press release

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal PLOS One.

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