You Know What? That's It.

I went to the natural history museum at Harvard a few weeks ago, saw a Tasmanian Tiger in person for the first time, cried about it, and then proceeded to take photos of it from every angle possible as I stared longingly at it for many many minutes.

This is an adult male thylacine taxidermy from the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The most striking aspect of this mount is the little fangs - they may not be anatomically correct, but they’re pretty cute and give him a unique look :)

Unfortunately there is no information about where this specimen came from, the date it was collected or who donated it to the museum.

The mount is in fair to poor condition, with significant damage on the ears, belly, medial aspects of the legs, and near the base of the tail. The white band was placed around the belly in an effort to prevent the skin from cracking further. I did my best to show only his good side, but he’s in need of some serious restorative work. It’s a shame because his facial expression, pose and color are all quite good.

Eternal thanks to @diplotomodon for alerting me to the existence of this specimen!

(My main blog, @sixth-extinction is listed on the images.)

I found this interesting thylacine image I have not seen before

images of the thylacine you have probably never seen before

A pic of a taxidermy specimen of a Thylacine I took at the Gallery of evolution in Paris (I can’t help but cry everytime I think about this species)

(Personnal pic, please reblog, do not use or repost. Thanks!)

🤎 - thylacine plushies!!

This photo, thought to be from the 1880s/1890s, is one of the earliest to show a thylacine. In it, a mother is posed at rest, curled around her joeys, one of which is nestled in her pouch. This taxidermy set represents the only known mount of a mother thylacine and her young, and despite its pricelessness, was supposedly destroyed in 1935. [ x ]

LOST THYLACINE FOOTAGE REDISCOVERED

Originally shot by Dr. Randle Stewart, an Australian psychiatrist, whilst on honeymoon in Tasmania, these 18 seconds of combined footage show the last captive thylacine in the world.

Commonly referred to as “Benjamin”, the individual lived at the now-abandoned Beaumaris Zoo from the early 1930s to his death in September of 1936, incidentally the same year thylacines were granted official protection by the Australian government.

The footage, shot in 1931, had been considered lost since the late 1970s.

This mummified thylacine was discovered in a cave on the Nullarbor Plain of southern Australia in 1966. It is estimated to be between 4,000-5,000 years old.

The mummy is now displayed in the Western Australian Museum in the same position it was found. Photo via Rob Davis on Twitter.

Preserved head of a female thylacine at Oxford University Museum of Natural History and a photo of the same animal when she was alive. This individual was captured in 1925 and sold to Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, before being transferred to London Zoo in 1926. She died on the 9th of August, 1931. She was the last living thylacine to be exhibited outside of Australia. 

Top photo by S. Sleightholme