The Strange Evolutionary Story of the Thylacine

Sat, 15 Nov 2025 11:42:57 +0000

Special thanks to Vanessa from BrainCraft for help with this video!
Check out her channel: https://www.youtube.com/braincraft
↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓

Until the early 20th century, Tasmania was home to a very weird wolf-like creature. Except that it wasn’t a wolf. Even though it looked like a wolf. How did that happen? Here’s the science of convergent evolution!

Want to see more of my interview with Rob? Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsek8JxUS7M

Special thanks to:
Rob Voss - American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Vanessa Hill from BrainCraft!

References:

Quammen, D. (2012). The song of the dodo: island biogeography in an age of extinctions. Random House.

Feigin, C. Y., Newton, A. H., Doronina, L., Schmitz, J., Hipsley, C. A., Mitchell, K. J., ... & Menzies, B. R. (2018). Genome of the Tasmanian tiger provides insights into the evolution and demography of an extinct marsupial carnivore. Nature ecology & evolution, 2(1), 182.

Newton, A. H., Spoutil, F., Prochazka, J., Black, J. R., Medlock, K., Paddle, R. N., ... & Pask, A. J. (2018). Letting the ‘cat’out of the bag: pouch young development of the extinct Tasmanian tiger revealed by X-ray computed tomography. Royal Society open science, 5(2), 171914.

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It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
Director: Joe Nicolosi
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