Overview
- A Nature Communications paper published Monday used CT scans and comparative 3D shape analysis to show the thylacine had an oversized skull and a long, tall snout with a widened tip that is unlike any living carnivorous mammal.
- Researchers conclude that the skull form produced a high-impact, fast‑snapping bite suited to catching small-to-medium agile prey rather than holding or grappling large livestock.
- A separate BMC Ecology and Evolution study analyzed archival Beaumaris Zoo footage and found the thylacine’s gait best matches opportunistic pouncers such as foxes or jackals rather than social pursuit hunters like wolves.
- Together the papers weaken the historical rationale for 19th- and early 20th-century bounties by showing European settlers likely misread thylacine ecology, shifting focus onto human persecution and habitat loss as key drivers of extinction.
- The work highlights how modern 3D imaging and biomechanical methods, paired with archival footage and Indigenous knowledge, can overturn long‑standing assumptions and inform future conservation thinking.