In a first, RNA is recovered from extinct Tasmanian tiger

Three views of the desiccated remains of an extinct marsupial mammal called the Tasmanian tiger, or the thylacine, from a collection at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm are seen in this undated handout image. Emilio Marmol Sanchez/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - The Tasmanian tiger, a dog-sized striped carnivorous marsupial also called the thylacine, once roamed the Australian continent and adjacent islands, an apex predator that hunted kangaroos and other prey. Because of humans, the species is now extinct.

But that does not mean scientists have stopped learning about it. In a scientific first, researchers said on Tuesday they have recovered RNA - genetic material present in all living cells that has structural similarities to DNA - from the desiccated skin and muscle of a Tasmanian tiger stored since 1891 at a museum in Stockholm.