The Washington times., 1903-02-02
RARE THYLAGINUS ON
VIEW At NATIONAL ZOO
Ancestry Dates Back To the
Worlds Early Days.
FOUND ONLY IN TASMANIA
Resembles the Wolf, But is Really a
Member of Marsupial Family,
and Has Pouch.

But few persons of the many thou
sands who have visited the National Zoo
within the past few weeks and have
stopped before a little fncIosure IN the
main building and watched the antics OF
a peculiar dog-like animal and her two
puppies, have probably known that the
quadruped was one of the rarest of ami
mails. and belongs to family whose an
CestTy dates well back into the early
history of the world. Beside the in
closure q simple notice informs the
spectator that the captive is a Tasman-
ian wolf. While this Is the narse com
monty applied to the animal. yet it Is
not a wolf st all, has no relation to the
wolf family, and, except for some resem-
blance, is entirely different from the
wolf.
The true name of the Tasmanian wolf
is thylacinus. It IS a member of the
marsupial or pouched-auimal family, of
which the kangaroo is the best example.
When Tasmania was first settled It was
fairly overrun with the animals The
settlers, however, made war on It. much
as have the settlers of western United
States on the jackrabbit, and practically
wiped the animal from the country.
Twenty five. years ago an estimate of the
number left was placed at fifty. Natur-
ally specimens are scarce, and the fe-
male and two pups at the National Zoo
were the first ever brought to America
alive. Since their acquisition by the
Zoo here one has been secured by the
Bronx Zoo, in New York city. Three
OF the marsuplals have at different times
been kept in the London Geological
Park
As before stated. the thylacinus has an
ancestry which dates back to the early
history Of the world. In common with
the older orders of animals. it has a
more or less droop to the hind legs, al
though not as pronounced as in the case
Of the kangaroo. As the animals de-
veiOped in the course Of centuries they
became higher and higher upon their
toes and assumed more OF d running pos
ture.
It is curious fact that all Aus
tralian animals are maTsuDials. and
form a distinct group of their own.
Scientists are of the opinion that when
mainland at some early period these
forms OF mammals we're unable to unite
with those OF ether species. and the
maTsupials therefore remained in a
group by themselves. They form. as Il
were. a little world Of their own, in
which all the orders OF higher animals
are represented. There are today in
Australia carnivOrous marsupials, Fo-
dent G-aTsupials, as well as the other
forms The flying squirrel is perhaps the
best example Of the rodent marsupiaI
The thylacinus Is peculiar also in its
markings. The specimens in the Zoo
are OF a dull grayish hue, with stripes
across the back somewhat Ike the
zebra. For this reason they have been
called zebra wolf Ey Tasmanian settlers.
They also have the fox CT dog ears,
which stand straight up from the head.
The pouch of the thylacinus is un-
usually large. and is entered by the
young when nursing. Il is one OF the
funniest sights imaginable 10 see the
two pups at the Zoo suddenly scramble
into the pocket and then let their pres
ence be known to the outer world by
sticking out their heads or legs.