Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. He has also written for The Independent (UK), The Canadian Press (CP) and The Associated Press (AP), among others. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University.
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Human EvolutionCritically endangered hare spotted in surprising location for the first time in 40 years — but it was already deadMonte Verde, one of the earliest Indigenous sites in South America, is much younger than thought, study claims. But others call it 'egregiously poor geological work.'World's oldest rock art, giant reservoir found beneath the East Coast seafloor, black hole revelations, and a record solar radiation storm'They are life, but not as we now know it': 26-foot organism that lived 420 million years ago is completely unknown branch of animal kingdomScientists find 2 marsupial species, thought to have gone extinct 6,000 years ago, living in the forests of New Guinea'Absolute surprise': Homo erectus skulls found in China are almost 1.8 million years old — the oldest evidence of the ancient human relatives in East AsiaUnlock instant access to exclusive member features.Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsSign up for the latest discoveries, groundbreaking research and fascinating breakthroughs that impact you and the wider world direct to your inbox.Feed your curiosity with an exclusive mystery every week, solved with science and delivered direct to your inbox before it's seen anywhere else.Sign up to our free science & technology newsletter for your weekly fix of fascinating articles, quick quizzes, amazing images, and moreSign up to our monthly entertainment newsletter to keep up with all our coverage of the latest sci-fi and space movies, tv shows, games and books.Discover this week's must-see night sky events, moon phases, and stunning astrophotos. Sign up for our skywatching newsletter and explore the universe with us!Archaeologists in Australia have discovered centuries-old Indigenous rock art depicting Tasmanian devils and the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, a new study reports. The findings suggest that the Tasmanian tiger may have survived on the Australian mainland until much more recently than previously thought.. The government of Arnhem Land is run by the region's Aboriginal people and, with a population of roughly 16,000 people, it has a relatively low population density with much of its environment preserved. The Tasmanian tiger is believed to have gone extinct on the Australian mainland around 3,000 years ago, the researchers reported in the study. However, the marsupials survived on the island of Tasmania until 1936, when the, but these reports have never been verified. The Tasmanian devil is now extinct on the Australian mainland but still survives on the island of Tasmania. At one time, the devil also lived in Arnhem Land. Scientists find 2 marsupial species, thought to have gone extinct 6,000 years ago, living in the forests of New Guinea World's oldest known rock art predates modern humans' entrance into Europe — and it was found in an Indonesian cave Ancient rock art depicting hunters and geometric shapes discovered in Egypt's Sinai Desert — and it spans a period of 10,000 years The Tasmanian tiger may have survived on the Australian mainland until just under 1,000 years ago, according to the new study, published March 30 in the journal "The newly documented artworks — some of which may be less than 1,000 years old — raise the possibility that these species survived longer in northern regions than previously thought," the team wrote in the statement. One painting, of a Tasmanian devil, was found in 2023 on a rock-art panel with figures of humans and other animals. The image of the Tasmanian devil is 1.3 feet long, with a painting of an eel-tail catfish drawn over part of it, the researchers wrote in the study. It has a robust and short torso, a rounded head with"prominent whiskers," and dog-like back paws, they noted. The other Tasmanian devil drawing was longer, at 2 feet , and has a slightly open mouth that shows its sharp, pointy teeth. It also has a fish painted over its legs.Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors Meanwhile, the Tasmanian tiger drawings show a dog-like animal with stripes, rounded ears and a long muzzle. The longest depiction measures 4.7 feet in length Some of the drawings show the tiger with their stripes while others do not. This indicates that the ancient artists didn't always bother to draw the stripes, the researchers said in the paper. One of the newly documented depictions of the now-extinct thylacine, also known as a Tasmanian tiger. The last known individual of this marsupial species died in 1936.Some of the newly documented rock art shows Tasmanian tigers drawn with kaolin , a white pigment that tends not to last as long as other colors, such as, the team wrote in the study. This raises the question of whether the people who drew some of these depictions may have lived in more recent times and actually saw a thylacine in northern Australia. "The artists who made the more recent paintings may have seen actual living thylacines and some of these creatures may have survived longer in Arnhem Land," study first author, a professor of anthropology and archaeology and the chair in rock art research at Griffith University in Australia, said in the statement."Alternatively, artists may have been inspired by earlier paintings." Rock climbers in Italy accidentally discovered evidence of an 80 million-year-old sea turtle stampede Ancient mummified cheetahs discovered in Saudi Arabia contain preserved DNA from the long-lost populationPrior to this research, there were about 150 verified rock-art drawings of Tasmanian tigers on the Australian mainland and 23 known drawings of Tasmanian devils. The difference in the number of"rock art depictions suggest thylacines were more widespread and more culturally important across mainland Australia than Tasmanian devils," the researchers wrote in the study. The team is working with Aboriginal communities to further understand the importance the Tasmanian tiger and Tasmanian devil had for their ancestors. One of the study's co-authors,, is from an Aboriginal group known as the Djalama. He said in a video that some of the headdresses on people shown in the rock art near the Tasmanian tigers resemble headdresses that the Djalama use in modern-day ceremoniesThe oral histories of the aboriginal people say that the Tasmanian Tigers were,"pets of the Rainbow Serpent and lived in rock pools," the researchers wrote in the statement. Rainbow spirits are deities associated with creation and rainfall in aboriginal Australian beliefs."The thylacine lives on in western Arnhem Land not as a ghost from the past but as a meaningful creature that still has present day relevance" the researchers wrote in the journal article.Taçon, P. S. C., A.Jalandoni, S. K.May, J.Nganjmirra, and C.Mungulda. 2026. “The Devil Is in the Detail: Tasmanian Devil and Tasmanian Tiger Paintings From Awunbarna and Injalak Hill, Northern Territory, Australia.” Archaeology in Oceania. Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. He has also written for The Independent , The Canadian Press and The Associated Press , among others. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. Scientists find 2 marsupial species, thought to have gone extinct 6,000 years ago, living in the forests of New GuineaWorld's oldest known rock art predates modern humans' entrance into Europe — and it was found in an Indonesian caveAncient rock art depicting hunters and geometric shapes discovered in Egypt's Sinai Desert — and it spans a period of 10,000 yearsTudor Heart: A Renaissance gold necklace featuring a French-English pun on the love between Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of AragonMystery medical episode that left astronaut unable to speak shows one of NASA's biggest risks as moon missions ramp upFarthest, fastest and most diverse: 6 major records the Artemis II astronauts will smash as NASA returns to the moon Farthest, fastest and most diverse: 6 major records the Artemis II astronauts will smash as NASA returns to the moon Tudor Heart: A Renaissance gold necklace featuring a French-English pun on the love between Henry VIII and his first wife, Katherine of Aragon
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