Nimbacinus dicksoni

Nimbacinus dicksoni
Temporal range: Early Miocene (23-16 MYA)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Thylacinidae
Genus: Nimbacinus
Species: N. dicksoni
Binomial name
Nimbacinus dicksoni
Muirhead & Archer, 1990

Nimbacinus dicksoni was an ancient relative of the modern but extinct thylacine. It lived approximately 23-16 million years ago in the Miocene period. Nimbacinus dicksoni was about 1.6 ft (50 cm) long. Being a predator, it likely ate birds, small mammals, and reptiles. Like the modern thylacine, it may have been an awkward runner and used stamina to catch prey rather than speed. Fossils have been found in Australia at Riversleigh in north-western Queensland and Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory.


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