Baby Tasmanian tiger skull more like wolf pups than other Australian marsupials

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Tasmanian tigers and dogs last shared a common ancestor 160 million years ago, but a new study has revealed that thylacine resembled its distant relative from birth.

Scientists from the University of Melbourne and Flinders University used micro-CT scanning and digital reconstruction to compare the skulls of Tasmanian tiger pups with wolf pups.

“The Tasmanian tiger in particular really grabbed us, because it had a bag, it was marsupial, but it became like dogs,” said lead author Dr Axel Newton.

“We expected them to start to become more likely as they got older, because these are two species that are very distant, they had a common ancestor last 160 million years ago, and so this was back when dinosaurs were still around, and they have on since then it came independently of each other.

“But, surprisingly, we found that [their skulls] they were very similar at birth. “

Diagrams comparing thylacine and wolf skull development at different stages in animal life.
Thylacine and wolf skull development at different stages of life.(Presented by: Axel Newton)

Tasmanian tigers have become extinct since the last animal died in captivity at Beaumaris Hobart Zoo in 1936.

Thylacine was marsupial and was born young at a very early stage with the jelly-sized baby moving into his mother’s pocket to continue developing.

This led researchers to speculate that the skull of a baby Tasmanian tiger would look more like other marsupials such as Tasmanian demons, possums and kangaroos than wolves or dogs.

Opposite a wolf's skull is a wolf's skull.
Thylacines (left skull) and wolves had a common ancestor when dinosaurs moved on Earth.(Presented by: Axel Newton)

“They start to look like a dog straight back from when they’re in the pocket, and they’re really starting to develop really in the same ways that a puppy would development, and that was a big surprise to us, “said Professor Andrew Pask of the University of Melbourne.

“I think it’s interesting to understand how a marsup goes on to look just like a wolf.

“It tells us a lot more about the biology of these amazing marsupials but it also helps us to more broadly understand how mammals develop and acquire all sorts of skull shapes. “

Micro-CT scanning prevents damage to valuable thylacine samples

The research used thylacine samples on loan from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Victoria Museums, and a wolf skull from the Northern Museum in Alaska.

A bearded man in a lab coat looking at a thylacine skull.
Scientist Andrew Pask holds a thylacine skull.(ABC News: Patrick Rocco)

Dr Pask said it was crucial that the thylacine samples were not damaged during the research.

“There are very few of these preserved puppy samples and they are very valuable because we are unlikely to have anything again.”

A micro-CT scan allowed microscopic X-levels to pass through the tiny thylacine pup samples and then create a high-resolution 3D image of the contents.

Professor Vera Weisbecker from Flinders University in the past said that damage to a sample was necessary to discover the bone structure of tiny marsupials.

“Without a CT scan almost none of the samples we used in this study would be available for research at all, we would not have found out about this,” she said.

“The beauty of this micro-CT scan is that it is completely non-invasive to the sample… we can use this method to look inside and take all the measurements we need of the skulls which develops without doing anything that is going to damage or compromise. that sample in any way. “

A white wolf stands in a forest in autumn.
Thylacines were like wolves from birth.(Pexels: Steve)

Scientists hope research will help save other species from Tasmanian tiger growth

When the thylacine became extinct the researchers became bitter for the researchers, who wanted to see the marsupials in the country.

“To be able to be resurrected [the thylacine’s] Behavior in this way is good but it is also very poignant because Australia does not have a good history of mammalian extinction, “said Professional Professor Weisbecker.

“We are losing species under our nose as we speak and it is very sad that we have to go on like this instead of just going into the desert and using a few camera traps or just keeping an eye on this animal. “

A thylacine standing in a zoo.
Scientists say they would prefer to see the animals outside.(Given)

Dr Newton said he hoped the findings would help conservation efforts for relatives of thylacine, such as Tasmanian devils who themselves are in danger of extinction.

“We have learned more about it [thylacines] after they lost what was known about them while they were alive, “he said.

“I feel we have a duty to do justice to sex because it has been hunted by extinct people.

“Understanding more about it gives us a better understanding of our natural diversity now.”

The research was published in the journal Communications Biology.

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