This Thylacine Footage Was Recently Rediscovered By Researchers Gareth Linnard, Branden Holmes And Mike

The Last Thylacine: September 7, 1936

Hey everyone! This may be a little late depending on your time zone (as I’m in Los Angeles / PST, I’m behind practically everyone). Sorry about that!

Today, September 7th, 2019, marks the 83rd Anniversary of the death of the last known thylacine in the Hobart Zoo. This animal is pictured above.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding the thylacine - and this individual in particular - so I thought I’d make a post to correct a few of these. Keep in mind that new facts and evidence do occasionally come to light, so this is of course subject to change!

MYTH #1: The last thylacine was named Benjamin.

FACT: The name “Benjamin” was allegedly given to the animal by a keeper named Frank Darby. Darby later claimed to have worked with this animal in an interview that took place in 1968. However, no record exists of Darby ever working at the Hobart Zoo, and the zoo curator’s daughter Alison Reid denied that Darby ever worked there.** [Source]

** Note: Although the nickname “Benjamin” was likely made up by Darby after the fact, it has stuck, so many thylacine enthusiasts (including me) still use it to refer to the last individual.

MYTH #2: The last thylacine was actually female.

FACT: Zoologist David Fleay, who took much of the film footage of this individual, stated in a newspaper article and diary entry that the animal was male, referring to it as a “fine male marsupial wolf.” Furthermore, in 2011, careful video analysis by Dr. Stephen Sleightholme (director of the ITSD) confirmed the presence of a scrotal sac, indicating that the last thylacine was indeed a male. [Source, Source]

MYTH #3: “Benjamin” was part of the Mullins family group.

FACT: The Mullins female was snared while her young were still in the pouch. This assertion would assume that “Benjamin” was one of the pups, grew up in captivity, and was the last surviving member of the family. However, in photos (including the one on this post), the snare mark is clearly visible on the animal’s hind leg, indicating that it was wild caught. It is more likely that “Benjamin” was snared by a man named Elias Churchill, though this is also debated. [Source]

MYTH #4: The carcass of “Benjamin” was immediately discarded after death because it was in poor condition.

FACT: The carcass was in fact sent to the Tasmanian Museum. What happened to it after that is unknown. [Source]

Cutest Cryptid - The Tizzie Wizzie

The Tizzie Wizzie was reported to be a shy, water-loving cryptid from around the Windermere region of Cumbria. It was allegedly first spotted by a Bowness boatman in 1900, and was reputed to have the body of a hedgehog, the tail of a squirrel or fox, and bee-like wings. 

The above photograph was apparently taken when one was captured in 1906, and was subsequently made and sold as a very popular postcard. It is highly likely that this creature was invented as a cutesy publicity stunt - but still possibly the cutest cryptid I’ve ever heard of!

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/placestogo/explorewindermere/uniquelywindermere

I…I just wanted to draw some mothmen ahahha. That bottom picture is just a practice of doing something out of my comfort zone (what if mothmen were tiny and huddled together on trees to protect against the cold like daddy long legs did though.)

ALSO!! The top 4 are available as stickers from here if anyone is interested!

Source

Gef the Talking Mongoose said a number of notable things in his time living at the home of the Irvings on the Isle of Man. He could speak a number of different languages according to those he spoke to, including but not limited to Welsh, Spanish, and Russian. However, even though he could speak more than English, he once claimed that the Irvings were the ones that had taught him to speak: “For years, I understood all that people said, but I could not speak until you taught me”. 

The English band Faustus created this beautiful song based around the legend of the Gurt Dog of Somerset. It was featured on their October 2016 album Death and Other Animals. The song highlights the protective nature of the Gurt Dog and tells a tale of a child that wandered at night only to be ushered home by a large, gentle canine friend. 

Soundly dream, Sweetly dream, Close your ears and pray. Gurt Dog howls, On the prowl, For children who’ve run away. 

A muzzle pushed into my palm, Velvet it was and warm. The hills were kind, the moor was small, I’d soon be safely home. 

He galloped me up to my door, I stretched to kiss his nose. Then climbed back into my fleece-lined bed, Dry down to my clothes.

These sketches were drawn by Owen Burnham of a globster known as Gambo. The 15 year old measured the strange creature on June 12, 1983, when he found it on a beach in Islamic Republic of The Gambia. It measured to be “15 - 16 feet long”. While some believed the creature to be a dolphin, it had two nostrils at the tip of its snout, which dolphins do not. The body was not DNA tested as Burnham claims he did not think to take samples until he realized he could not identify the creature in any books. 

some more images of the thylacine you have probably never seen before