New research indicates that the Tasmanian tiger had a smaller, meaner and more ferocious cousin. Scientists say that the extinct fox-sized Tasmanian tiger cousin may have also liked hunting larger prey.
The Nimbacinus dicksoni is an extinct species of Thylacine. While considered smaller than its modern relative Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynophalus), it may have been a tough predator to deal with.
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the University of New England (UNE) examined a skull belonging to the extinct Nimbacinus and found that the diminutive animal had a powerful bite. Moreover, the scientists who worked on the study say that Nimbacinus could dispatch prey larger than itself using its powerful jaws. The research team published its findings in the online journal PLOS ONE.
"For at least 15 million years the thylacinids were key players in Australia's carnivorous marsupial community," said UNE associate professor Stephen Wroe. "While our understanding of thylacinid diversity has greatly improved with new fossil discoveries, our understanding of their ecology has remained limited, in part at least because most fossil species have been represented by very fragmentary remains." Wroe is also the director of the UNE Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research Laboratory.
The Nimbacinus skull the scientists studied was well-preserved, allowing the researchers to gleam enough information about the possible eating and hunting behavior of the extinct animal. Compared to its distant Tasmanian tiger relatives, these little hunters could and probably did take on larger animals. The Tasmanian devil, on the other hand, preferred smaller animals during its nocturnal hunts.
"The well-preserved skull of the 25-15 million year old fox-sized Nimbacinus dicksoni from Queensland is giving us much needed insight," Wroe added.
By using the Nimbacinus skull, the team was able to construct a complex 3D model that they used to estimate bite force and come up with probable behavioral patterns for the animal. After poring through their computer model, the researchers said that the skull of the Nimbacinus was quite similar to the skull of the spotted-tail quoll, another animal known for its ferociousness.
"These findings suggest that, unlike its recently extinct relative, the skull of Nimbacinus was adapted to deliver a powerful bite, and that it likely hunted a wide range of prey, up to and likely exceeding its own body mass. Potential prey would have included birds, frogs, lizards and snakes, as well as a wide range of marsupials," said UNSW behavioral ecologist Marie Attard.
