Tasmanian Wolf: Thylacinidae

Since Tasmanian wolves are no longer living today, no one knows for sure what they ate. When they were alive, people were more interested in classifying them and studying how they were related to other animals than in learning about how they lived or what they ate. Scientists can make some guesses about their diet, however, by comparing Tasmanian wolves to animals that live today.

Tasmanian wolves were carnivores, or meat eaters. It is believed that they ate many different kinds of animals including birds, small mammals, and even some larger mammals such as wombats, bandicoots, possums, and kangaroos, although it is likely that these larger animals were eaten less often. By looking at the size of their leg bones, scientists believe that Tasmanian wolves did not run very fast, and captured their prey by sneaking up on it or ambushing it rather than running it down.