Post by bluefedish on May 29, 2007 15:07:15 GMT -5
The Queensland tiger is not supposed to be an actual feline, instead it is a marsupial equivalent to a feline, a case of parallel evolution. It is no more a tiger than the thylacine is a wolf. The Queensland tiger (also called the "marsupial tiger" the "yarri" and the thylacoleo) is supposed to have become extinct on the Australian mainland many thousands of years ago because of competition with introduced wild dogs, the dingoes. Both native folklore and modern sightings claim that a few Queensland tigers are still alive, in small pockets in the most remote areas of northern Queensland's rainforests.
The Queensland tiger looks cat-like, generally with a striped pelt. Unlike the thylacine, the stripes are darkest and most prominent towards the front of the body, not the rump. In reports, the Queensland tiger can have golden coloration or it can be dark gray. The Queensland tiger is generally thought to be about the same size as a big dog. It actually looks rather similar to the thylacine except for its cat-like head, so it may be that sightings of "thylacines" from mainland Australia are really of the Queensland tiger. It has also been suggested that the Queensland tiger (or other supposedly extinct marsupial look-alikes to felines) are behind the persistent reports of mystery cats living in the Outback of Australia, cats that are supposed to be native residents, not feral pets, and that reportedly do not resemble house cats or any other known species of cat.
Selected Source:
www.newanimal.org/thylacine.htm
The Queensland tiger looks cat-like, generally with a striped pelt. Unlike the thylacine, the stripes are darkest and most prominent towards the front of the body, not the rump. In reports, the Queensland tiger can have golden coloration or it can be dark gray. The Queensland tiger is generally thought to be about the same size as a big dog. It actually looks rather similar to the thylacine except for its cat-like head, so it may be that sightings of "thylacines" from mainland Australia are really of the Queensland tiger. It has also been suggested that the Queensland tiger (or other supposedly extinct marsupial look-alikes to felines) are behind the persistent reports of mystery cats living in the Outback of Australia, cats that are supposed to be native residents, not feral pets, and that reportedly do not resemble house cats or any other known species of cat.
Selected Source:
www.newanimal.org/thylacine.htm
