Best Carnivore
The thylacine, scientifically *Thylacinus cynocephalus*, was a carnivorous marsupial unique to Tasmania. This extinct species, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, possessed distinctive striped fur and hunted prey like kangaroos. Its last surviving member perished in captivity in 1936. The animal is o...
Architeuthis dux, commonly known as the giant squid, is the largest invertebrate on Earth by length. These deep-sea carnivores, belonging to the Architeuthidae family, are remarkable for their immense size and elusive nature. They primarily inhabit the world’s oceans and are of interest to marine bi...
Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, commonly known as the colossal squid, is the largest invertebrate species currently recognized. Found in the frigid waters surrounding Antarctica, it’s notable for its immense size and formidable hunting capabilities as a deep-sea carnivore. Scientists study this animal t...
Smilodon fatalis, a saber-toothed cat of the Pleistocene, is known from thousands of specimens recovered at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles and possessed upper canines reaching roughly 18 cm in length.
Megalosaurus bucklandii was a large carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic in what is now England. William Buckland formally described Megalosaurus in 1824 from fossils found in Oxfordshire, making it the first non-avian dinosaur to receive a valid scientific name. The k...
The tiger quoll is a carnivorous marsupial native to eastern Australia. It’s notable for its distinctive spotted coat and unique diet, primarily consuming venomous snakes. As the largest living quoll species, it plays an important role in controlling snake populations. Researchers and wildlife biolo...
Aenocyon dirus, the dire wolf, is known from thousands of Pleistocene specimens including large numbers from the La Brea Tar Pits; a 2021 genomic study showed it belonged to a lineage distinct from all living canids.
The Eastern Quoll is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia and Tasmania. It’s notable as one of the few remaining species of quoll, facing significant threats due to habitat loss and introduced predators. Primarily found in Tasmania, it plays a vital role in its ecosystem as a predator of inve...
Repenomamus giganticus was a comparatively large mammal from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of northeastern China. It belonged to an extinct group called gobiconodontids and had a robust skull and teeth suited to processing animal matter. Direct evidence that some Mesozoic mammals consumed di...
The New Guinea quoll (Dasyurus albopunctatus) is a small, nocturnal carnivorous marsupial native to the island of New Guinea. Recognizable by its brownish coat and distinctive white spots, it represents the largest surviving native marsupial predator in the region. The species primarily inhabits tro...
Smilodon populator, the largest saber-toothed cat, inhabited Pleistocene South America and had an estimated body mass of up to 400 kg, making it one of the heaviest feliform carnivorans in the fossil record.
The western quoll, also known as the chuditch, is a carnivorous marsupial native to Western Australia. It represents the largest endemic mammalian carnivore in the region and was once widespread across much of Australia. These solitary animals primarily inhabit dense scrublands and woodlands. Quolls...
The northern quoll is a small carnivorous marsupial native to eastern Australia. It’s notable for being the smallest species of quoll and critically endangered due to habitat loss and introduced predators like cane toads. Primarily found in rainforests and woodlands, it plays a vital role in control...
Cynognathus crateronotus was a large, predatory cynodont that lived during the Triassic Period and belonged to the synapsid lineage leading toward mammals. Fossils assigned to Cynognathus are particularly well known from South Africa, with related occurrences across parts of Gondwana, including Sout...
The Ningbing pseudantechinus is a small carnivorous marsupial native to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, uniquely adapted to rocky outcrop habitats.
Diatryma gigantea is an obsolete name historically applied to the giant flightless bird now generally called Gastornis gigantea. It lived in North America during the early Eocene and had a massive skull, deep beak, powerful legs, and a height approaching two meters. Once commonly reconstructed as a...
The sandstone pseudantechinus is a carnivorous marsupial found in northern Australia, distinguished by its habit of inhabiting rugged sandstone escarpments.
The New Guinean quoll (Dasyurus albopunctatus) is a carnivorous marsupial found in New Guinea, belonging to the family Dasyuridae. It is one of only two quoll species found outside Australia, the other being the bronze quoll. The species inhabits forested areas at elevations ranging from sea level t...
The bronze quoll (Dasyurus spartacus) is a marsupial carnivore endemic to the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands of southern New Guinea. Described as a distinct species in 1987, it is the largest surviving predatory marsupial on the island. Belonging to the Dasyuridae family, this elusive quoll occupi...
