Yokyn

The yokyn is an unknown canid or possibly marsupial in Aboriginal ethnozoology. Yokyns are thought to resemble dingoes, but have multi-coloured fur, with mottled patches of brown, red, grey and white, reminiscent of an African wild dog (see above). They were more robust in shape but were smaller than a dingo. They had disproportionately large claws, with a long and stiff tail, shorter legs and a longer and more pointed muzzle.

Although believed to exist by various Aboriginal nations, it only gained attention when white settlers started reporting them, especially during the early ’60s to the late '70s. Some theorized the yokyn is a subspecies of dingo or a hybrid between a domesticated dog, like an Australian shepherd or cattle dog, and a dingo, though neither cross resemble the yokyn. Others noted that since dingoes descended from introduced dogs from South Asia 6000 years ago, the yokyn’s morphology is much too different to have evolved that recently. Some have pointed out its more thylacine-like features, like the long, stiff tail and the long, pointed muzzle, leading some to theorize it to be an unknown species or relative in the Thylacinidae family.