Nimbacinus dicksoni

Nimbacinus dicksoni (†Nimbacinus dicksoni (Muirhead & Archer, 1990))

 

Class: Mammalia

Subclass: Marsupialia

Order: Dasyuromorphia

Family: †Thylacinidae

Genus: †Nimbacinus

Dimensions: length - 50 cm, tail - 40 cm, height - 25 сm, weight - 2-5 kg

Temporal range: Miocene (Australia, 23-16 million years ago)

 

 

Nimbacinus dicksoni was an ancient thylacine a distant relative of the modern but extinct thylacinid known as the Tasmanian tiger. It lived approximately 23-16 million years ago in the Miocene period. Nimbacinus dicksoni was about 50 cm long. Being a predator, it likely ate birds, small mammals, and reptiles. Like the modern thylacine, it may have been an awkward runner and used stamina to catch prey rather than speed. Fossils have been found in Australia at Riversleigh in north-western Queensland and Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory.

Like all thylacinids, Nimbacinus dicksoni was a dog-like marsupial, though its smaller size makes its appearance more comparable to that of a fox. Unlike its relatives, its jaws were likely strong enough for it to take down prey larger than itself.

The known material consists of a nearly complete skeleton, missing only the feet and tail, though the holotype consists only of upper and lower jaws found in a different part of the same fossil site. In terms of completeness, it is the best-known thylacinid outside of the only recently extinct thylacine.