Thylacinus potens

Thylacinus potens Temporal range: Miocene 10–8 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Upper jaw
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Dasyuromorphia
Family:	†Thylacinidae
Genus:	†Thylacinus
Species:	†T. potens
Binomial name
Thylacinus potens (Woodburne, 1967)

Restoration

Thylacinus potens ("powerful pouch") was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae, originally known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene locality near Alice Springs, Northern Territory. It preceded the modern thylacine by 4–6 million years,^[1] and was 5% bigger,^[2] was more robust and had a shorter, broader skull. Its size is estimated to be similar to that of a grey wolf; the head and body together were around 5 feet long, and its teeth were less adapted for shearing compared to those of the modern thylacine.^[1]

More specimens were described in 2014.^[3]

References

1. Some Thylacine Relics: Tertiary (page 1)
2. The Lost Kingdoms of Australia by Stephen Wroe
3. Yates, A. M. (2014). "New craniodental remains of Thylacinus potens (Dasyuromorphia: Thylacinidae), a carnivorous marsupial from the late Miocene Alcoota Local Fauna of central Australia". PeerJ 2: e547. doi:10.7717/peerj.547.