The only recorded species of "Thylacinus", a genus that resembles the dogs and foxes of the family Canidae, the animal was a predatory marsupial that existed on mainland Australia during the Holocene epoch and observed by Europeans on the island of Tasmania; the species is known as the Tasmanian tiger for the striped markings of the pelage. Descriptions of the thylacine come from preserved specimens, fossil records, skins and skeletal remains, and black and white photographs and film of the animal both in captivity and from the field. The thylacine resembled a large, short-haired dog with a stiff tail which smoothly extended from the body in a way similar to that of a kangaroo. The mature thylacine ranged from long, plus a tail of around . Adults stood about at the shoulder and on average weighed , though they could range anywhere from . There was slight sexual dimorphism with the males being larger than females on average. Males weighed in at around , and females weighed in at around .