Dingoes sped Tassie Tigers' end

A study of remains revealed that dingoes were bigger than thylacines on mainland Australia, where female thylacines were not much bigger than a fox. Image: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery A new theory states dingoes may have contributed to the extinction of the thylacines.Direct attacks by introduced dingoes may have led to the extinction on the Australian mainland of the iconic marsupial predator, the thylacine, a new study involving University of Sydney researchers suggests.A comparison of museum specimens by Dr Mike Letnic from the University of NSW with University of Sydney colleagues Dr Melanie Fillios from the Department of Archaeology and Dr Mathew Crowther from the School of Biological Sciences has found that thylacines on mainland Australia were smaller than those that persisted into modern times in Tasmania, and significantly smaller than dingoes. The last known thylacine, which has also been known as the Tasmanian tiger, died in 1936.Measurements of the head...

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