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

Thylacine pregnancies are estimated to last just a few weeks, compared with 22 months for mammoths.

From Scientific American • Aug. 16, 2022

Wade Francis, who runs the Thylacine Open Debate and Discussion Facebook Page, says: “Too many people without a scientific approach are turning what was a real animal into a joke subject like Bigfoot.”

From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2021

Guardian Australia contacted the Thylacine Awareness Group, but they did not respond before deadline.

From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2021

One of Tasmania’s most prominent tiger-hunting groups, the Thylacine Research Unit, or T.R.U., looked at the images and pronounced the animal a quoll, a marsupial carnivore that looks vaguely like a weasel.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 25, 2018

Thylacine, thī′la-sēn, n. the largest of the extant predaceous marsupials, represented by one species, now restricted to Tasmania.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various