Thylacinus potens was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae

Thylacinidae

The animals in the Thylacinidae family were all carnivorous marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only recent member was the Thylacine , which became extinct in 1936...

, known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene

Late Miocene

The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch....

 locality near Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. It preceded the modern thylacine

Thylacine

The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...

 by 4–6 million years, and was 5% bigger, was more robust and had a shorter, broader skull

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

. Its size is estimated to be similar to that of a grey wolf; the head and body together were around 5 feet long, and its teeth were less adapted for shearing compared to those of the modern thylacine.