Australia’s colonists, followed by citizens of the newly autonomous Commonwealth, hunted the nation’s iconic Tasmanian tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus , to extinction 90 years ago—seemingly because of a fatal case of mistaken identity. The thylacine, a marsupial whose dog-like anatomy led to it sometimes being called the Tasmanian wolf, also led to unfounded fears that these creatures would prey upon livestock—just like the wolfpacks these farmers knew back home in Europe.
Since then, it hasn’t exactly been easy to confirm the true eating habits of this species, eradicated before its time by hostile farmers and their belligerent defenders. But…
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