The thylacine was a formidable apex predator, though exactly how large its prey animals were is disputed. Because of convergent evolution, it displayed an anatomy and adaptations similar to the tiger ( Panthera tigris) and wolf ( Canis lupus) of the Northern Hemisphere, such as dark transverse stripes that radiated from the top of its back, and a skull shape extremely similar to those of canids, despite being unrelated.
The thylacine was relatively shy and nocturnal, with the general appearance of a medium-to-large-size canid, except for its stiff tail and abdominal pouch similar to that of a kangaroo. Various Aboriginal Tasmanian names have been recorded, such as coorinna, kanunnah, cab-berr-one-nen-er, loarinna, laoonana, can-nen-ner and lagunta, while kaparunin is used in the constructed language of Palawa kani.
On the Australian mainland, it has been referred as the Nannup tiger. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger (because of its striped lower back) or the Tasmanian wolf (because of its canid-like characteristics). The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasmania. It was the largest known carnivorous marsupial in the world prior to its extinction, evolving about 2 million years ago. The thylacine ( / ˈ θ aɪ l ə s iː n/ THY-lə-seen, or / ˈ θ aɪ l ə s aɪ n/ THY-lə-syne, also / ˈ θ aɪ l ə s ɪ n/) ( Thylacinus cynocephalus) is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea.