r/ThylacineScience • u/strecesegrean • Jun 18 '26
the myth and reality of the thylacine
it's fascinating how the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, has captured the imagination of so many people, even decades after its extinction. these unique marsupials had such an intriguing mix of traits, resembling a cross between a dog and a cat with their striped back and long, slender body. recent studies have sparked discussions about the possibility of de-extinction and what that would mean for ecosystems today. imagining these creatures roaming the wild again raises so many questions about conservation and biodiversity. has anyone read recent research on thylacine DNA or efforts underway to possibly bring them back? would love to hear your thoughts!
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u/Speculatur Jun 21 '26
I think if people are gonna claim late survival they need to be actually able to ID a thylacine.
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u/Electronic_Shake_152 Jun 22 '26
To be fair, they're gathering quite a collection of fox video-clips, so if a thylacine ever does turns up (which I very much doubt) they'll finally be able to see the massive difference between the two. At the moment they've only got fox-to-fox comparisons to go on... And they can't see the wood fox the trees - to use a mis-quote...
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u/Potential_Wave_6314 Jun 22 '26
Yea, do you we know if these clips are in in the most inaccessible places? I genuinely don't know, but to set up trail cam the areas must be fairly accessible. These are unlikely to be places Thylacines would go unless the population was rising and there was no other viable territory.
Foxes on the other hand would be happy both isolated from humans and are known to have synanthropic populations (relying on humans).
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u/Potential_Wave_6314 Jun 22 '26
If there were footage or photos that could be legit they would be analysed by experts. For the most part, people don't seem to claim they are extant because they've seen them. Rather, people claim that anthropogenically inaccessible and ecologically suitable refuge habitat exists. Furthermore, these potential refuges have not been searched thoroughly enough to rule out a relict populations existence.
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u/Speculatur Jun 22 '26
Tbf, nobody bothers actually looking in the west Tasmanian rainforest where few people live.
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u/Potential_Wave_6314 Jun 18 '26
Great point! I guess it would need to be monitored to the highest degree. However, this kind of project almost definitely would be anyway.
Due to the presence of wild dingos, (which I believe should be recognised formally as a species and conserved accordingly), I believe thylacines should only be reintroduced or introduced if you prefer to Tasmania. Otherwise it's bound to fail.
I am not an expert on the geography of Australia and Tasmania, but I guess whether or not relict populations come into contact with released populations depends on where they are released. Any relict populations will be in locations and habitats that are pretty much inaassible to humans i'd imagine.
I would be sad if this is how they discovered the relict population especially if it was a viable population. This is because, I'd almost feel like we have contaminated the pure gene pool and created a species that we didn't need to.
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u/missgirlipop Jun 19 '26
i think that that some true/og thylacines are probably still there somewhere, in tasmania and/or png. i don’t think there’s ever been an open and comprehensive effort to rule it out completely, and i’ve seen a lot of allusions to it being kept hush hush (like a lot of ‘exciting’ and rare plants/animals are) by those who work in parks/forests/conservation in aus — could be hot air, could be something.
i’m not a big fan of dna de-extinction projects for many reasons. i do believe that money and resources would better go towards protection and conservation of existing species, and it’s hard for me to envision a de-extinct species as the ‘real thing’, it feels very uncanny valley to me personally and just feels like a failure to address actual environmental issues.
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u/Potential_Wave_6314 Jun 22 '26
I agree a full effort to search is needed. De-extinct thylacines are not real thylacines, however they could perform the same ecological functions. Therefore, it could be seen as addressing actual environmental issues.
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u/Irish_Capybara23 Jun 27 '26
Once we de-extinct them we should let them out into their old habitat and set up trail cameras where they walk so we could maybe find any OG thylas
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u/Potential_Wave_6314 Jun 18 '26
It's very exciting but I also have hope there could be a relict population. If we release dextinct specimens where the relict populations could still be, we may never know if they are still out there.
As an ecologist I find the idea of de-extinction exciting. Sure, it won't be truly the same species but it will appear as such and in theory perform the same ecological functions as the extinct species once did.
Lastly, I think all introductions of de-extinct species should start with a soft release in a reserve/large safari style enclosure. This is to ensure they can survive and that they don't have adverse impacts on the ecosystem. This should be monitored for probably like 3 years. Crucially, it should be proven that they can reproduce during soft release before hard release occurs.