cacodemonia: the-tabularium: cacodemonia: ...

23rd August 2012

the-tabularium:

cacodemonia:

The Grant Museum of Zoology houses many specimens, but the ones that caught my eye were the Thylacines. The museum is home to many examples of the species, including a fully articulated skeleton and a preserved skin in a glass jar. In fact, when scientists tried to clone a Thylacine, cells were taken from this skin with the hope of reviving the now extinct species. However, the science used was not advanced enough, and the cloning failed. There is still hope that in the future a Thylacine may be cloned, but many argue that the extinction should serve as a reminder to the consequences of over-hunting and the species should not be cloned.

The Thylacine was a species of marsupial that filled the ecological gap left by the absence of canines in Australasia. They were interesting animals: they could open their jaws up to 120 degrees, and both the males and females of the species had rear-facing pouches. Sadly, the reign of the Thylacine was not to last, and due to allegations of livestock theft, a bounty was put on the Thylacine’s head. This over-hunting led to the last Thylacine, a young male, being shot in 1936. Since then, many rewards have been put out for the capture of a live Thylacine, and many alleged sightings have cropped up, but no evidence has come forward that there is still Thylacines in Australasia.

Yes, Thylacines! The only thing I’d have a problem with is the tail in the skeleton- thylacines typically had semi-rigid tails and held them in a continued slope from their spine, kinda like a wallaby or a roo does.

But other then that IT’S A GODSDAMNED THYLACINE SKELETON FUCK YES. Just look at that skull.

I know, that’s what I thought! I think they curled it round a bit so that it would fit in the cabinet, haha. It was pretty tight in there! I know that Thylacines could hold their tail in a similar position to the one shown on the skeleton, or at least it would appear so in this picture from Hobart Zoo. But even then, their tails seem quite straight, whereas the tail on the skeleton is curving all over the place @__@