section_path: Ecology and behaviour/Feeding and diet
section_name: Feeding and diet
paragraph_text: Feeding and diet
  
  The thylacine was an apex predator, though exactly how large its prey animals could be is disputed. It was a nocturnal and crepuscular hunter, spending the daylight hours in small caves or hollow tree trunks in a nest of twigs, bark, or fern fronds. It tended to retreat to the hills and forest for shelter during the day and hunted in the open heath at night. Early observers noted that the animal was typically shy and secretive, with awareness of the presence of humans and generally avoiding contact, although it occasionally showed inquisitive traits. At the time, much stigma existed in regard to its "fierce" nature; this is likely to be due to its perceived threat to agriculture.
  
  Historical accounts suggest that in the wild, the thylacine preyed on small mammals and birds, with waterbirds being the most commonly recorded bird prey, with historical accounts of thylacines predating on black ducks and teals with coots, Tasmanian nativehens, swamphens, herons (Ardea) and black swans also being likely items of prey. The thylacine may also have preyed upon the now extinct Tasmanian emu. The most commonly recorded mammalian prey was the red-necked wallaby, with other recorded prey including the Tasmanian pademelon and the short-beaked echidna. Other probable native mammalian prey includes other marsupials like bandicoots and brushtail possums, as well as native rodents like water rats. Following their introduction to Tasmania, European rabbits rapidly multiplied and became abundant across the island, with a number of accounts reporting the predation of rabbits by thylacines. Some accounts also suggest that the thylacine may have preyed on lizards, frogs and fish.
  
  European settlers believed the thylacine to prey regularly upon farmers' sheep and poultry. However, analysis by Robert Paddle suggests that there is little evidence that thylacines were significant predators of sheep or poultry (though some accounts suggest that they may have attacked them on occasion), with many sheep deaths likely caused by feral dog attacks instead. Throughout the 20th century, the thylacine was often characterised as primarily a blood drinker; according to Robert Paddle, the story's popularity seems to have originated from a single second-hand account heard by Geoffrey Smith (1881–1916) in a shepherd's hut.
  
  Recent studies suggest that the thylacine was probably not suited for hunting large prey. A 2007 study argued that, while it could open its jaws wide like modern mammalian predators that consume large prey, the canine of the thylacine was not suited for slashing bites like that of large canids, indicating, based on the assumption that the bite was largely derived by its skull, that it hunted small to medium-sized prey as a solitary hunter. A 2011 study by the University of New South Wales using advanced computer modelling indicated that the thylacine had surprisingly feeble jaws; animals usually take prey close to their own body size, but an adult thylacine of around 30 kg (66 lb) was found to be incapable of handling prey much larger than 5 kg (11 lb), suggesting that the thylacine only ate smaller animals such as bandicoots, pademelons and possums, and that it may have directly competed with the Tasmanian devil and the tiger quoll. Another study in 2020 produced similar results, after estimating the average body mass of thylacine as about 16.7 kg (37 lb) rather than 30 kg (66 lb), suggesting that the animal did indeed hunt much smaller prey. The cranial and facial morphology also indicate that the thylacine would have hunted prey less than 45% of its own body mass, consistent with modern carnivores weighing under 21 kg (46 lb) which is about the average size of a thylacine.
  
  A 2005 study showed that the thylacine had a high bite force quotient of 166, which was similar to that of most quolls, indicating that it may have been able to hunt larger prey relative to its body size. A 2007 study also suggested that it would have had a much stronger bite force than a dingo of similar size, though this particular study argued that the thylacine would have hunted smaller prey. A biomechanical analysis of the 3D skull model suggested that the thylacine would have likely consumed smaller prey, with its skull displaying high levels of stress that are not suited to withstand forces, and with its bite forces being estimated at a smaller value than that of Tasmanian devils. A 2014 study compared the skull of a thylacine with that of modern dasyurids and an earlier thylacinid taxon Nimbacinus based on biomechanical analysis of their 3D skull models; the authors suggested that while Nimbacinus was suited to hunt large prey with a maximum muscle force of 651 N (146 lb) which are similar to that of large Tasmanian devils, the thylacine skull displayed a much higher stress in all areas compared to its relatives due to its longer snout. If the thylacine were indeed specialised for small prey, this specialisation likely made it susceptible to small disturbances to the ecosystem.
  
  It has been suggested on the basis of the canine teeth and limb bones that the thylacine was a solitary pounce-pursuit predator that hunted smaller prey with trophic niches similar to relatively smaller canids like the coyote, and that it was not as specialised as large canids, hyaenids and felids of today: its canine lacked the adaptation for producing slashing or deep penetrating bites, and its anatomy was not suited for running fast in high speed. However, the trappers reported it as an ambush predator hunting alone or in pairs mainly at night. The elbow joint morphology and the forelimb anatomy of the thylacine also suggest that the animal was most likely an ambush predator.
  
  The stomach of a thylacine was very muscular, capable of distending to allow the animal to eat large amounts of food at one time, probably an adaptation to compensate for long periods when hunting was unsuccessful and food scarce. In captivity, thylacines were fed a wide variety of foods, including dead rabbits and wallabies as well as beef, mutton, horse and, occasionally, poultry. There is a report of a captive thylacine that refused to eat dead wallaby flesh or to kill and eat a live wallaby offered to it, but "ultimately it was persuaded to eat by having the smell of blood from a freshly killed wallaby put before its nose."