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jhfjhsdgjsdjgh The Tazmanian Wolf is believed to have been extinct for the last 65 years, although there is now a current investigation to confirm the possible existence of the Tasmanian Wolf, do to a sighting of one by a Wildlife Service Officer in January of 1995 in the Pyengana region of eastern Tasmania.

About 5 feet long, 3 feet high when standing on all four legs, Light brown fur with dark stripes across the lower back. Note in the picture above how wide the jaws are open. The Tasmanian Wolf's jaws were known to open wider than any other mammal. Despite its appearance and its popular name, it was not in fact a species of wolf. It was actually a marsupial, the largest carnivorous marsupial in recent times. The Tasmanian wolf was more closely related to the thumb|254px|link=File:O3.jpgkangaroo and the wombat. Hence it's latin name thylacinus cynocephalus, "meaning pouched dog with wolf head" yes the Tasmanian Wolf had a pouch. The Tasmanian Wolf's resemblance to unrelated species is a result of what scientists call convergent evolution, in which similar features develop separately in different species. The Tasmanian Wolf evolved into a form comparable to members of the dog family because it filled much the same ecological niche in Australia as true dogs do in their environments.

The extinction of the Tasmanian Wolf is attributable solely to activities of human beings. In the nineteenth century, when Tasmania encouraged agriculture, the Tasmanian Wolf was considered a threat to livestock, and bounty hunters were paid twenty-five cents per scalp as part of a concerted, and successful, effort to eliminate the animal. It was soon hunted to extinction. Today, in the hopes that the Tasmanian Wolf is not truly extinct, the Australian Conservation Foundation offers $100 just for a sighting of the animal's tracks.

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