Thylacinus potens

Thylacinus potens Temporal range: Miocene 10–8 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Upper jaw
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Dasyuromorphia
Family:	†Thylacinidae
Genus:	†Thylacinus
Species:	†T. potens
Binomial name
Thylacinus potens (Woodburne, 1967)

Thylacinus potens ("powerful pouched dog") was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae, originally known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene locality near Alice Springs, Northern Territory. It preceded the modern thylacine by 4–6 million years, and was 5% bigger, was more robust and had a shorter, broader skull. Its size is estimated to be similar to that of a grey wolf; the head and body together were around 5 feet long, and its teeth were less adapted for shearing compared to those of the modern thylacine.

More specimens were described in 2014.