#onthisday The last Thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, died on this day in 1936 alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. The Thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus), commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial which was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. Before European settlement, several thousand remained in the wild on Tasmania. Starting during the 19th century, they were perceived as a threat to the livestock of farmers and bounty hunting was introduced. The Thylacine is widespread in popular culture and is a cultural icon in Australia. Thylacines are universally regarded as being extinct by the scientific community, but when the species became extinct is unclear. Modelling based on reliable records indicates extinction during the 1930s or 1940s, although unconfirmed sightings of the species have led a minority of researchers to suggest it survived for several decades longer than that. More money has been dedicated to rediscovering the Thylacine than any other mammal. Sightings of possible tracks were reported throughout the 1950s and 1960s and in 1982 a sighting of a Thylacine was reported by a Tasmanian park ranger prompting an extensive two year-long search, which was kept confidential at the time, but found no evidence of any surviving Thylacines. #WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel