thylacine

American  

[thahy-luh-sahyn, -sin] / ˈθaɪ ləˌsaɪn, -sɪn /

noun

1. a wolflike marsupial, Thylacinus cynocephalus, of Tasmania, tan-colored with black stripes across the back: probably extinct.

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thylacine British  

/ ˈθaɪləˌsaɪn /

noun

1. Also called: Tasmanian tiger.   Tasmanian wolf.  an extinct or very rare doglike carnivorous marsupial, Thylacinus cynocephalus, of Tasmania, having greyish-brown fur with dark vertical stripes on the back: family Dasyuridae

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Etymology

Origin of thylacine

1830–40; < New Latin Thylacinus genus name, equivalent to thylac- (< Greek thȳ́lakos pouch) + -īnus -ine ¹

Example Sentences

The company’s other de-extinction hopes include reviving the woolly mammoth, the dodo, and the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2025

In recent years, scientists have aimed to clone the Tasmanian tiger or thylacine, an extinct marsupial.

From Salon • Jun. 19, 2024

The Tasmanian tiger, a dog-sized striped carnivorous marsupial also called the thylacine, once roamed the Australian continent and adjacent islands, an apex predator that hunted kangaroos and other prey.

From Reuters • Oct. 3, 2023

The Tasmanian tiger, also known as the thylacine, was a remarkable apex carnivorous marsupial that was once distributed all across the Australian continent and the island of Tasmania.

From Science Daily • Sep. 19, 2023

In life the tail probably passed almost imperceptibly into the body, as in the Tasmanian thylacine.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various