The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was a large carnivorous marsupial that went extinct in the 20th century. It resembled a wolf or large dog with stripes and a stiff tail. Thylacines lived in Tasmania and mainland Australia but died out on the mainland around 2,000 years ago due to competition from dingoes. In Tasmania, they were widespread until European settlement in 1803. The arrival of settlers led to overhunting of thylacines, destruction of their forest and grassland habitat, and competition from introduced dogs. The last known thylacine died in captivity in 1936, making the species extinct. Scientists now hope to clone the thylacine