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British collector James Cranfield paid £62,000 for the specimen at a UK auction after spotting a detail that other bidders had missed, its teeth did not belong to a fox. The database currently records 815 thylacine specimens worldwide, ranging from tiny pieces of tissue to complete mounts. Because there are believed to be only two known thylacine head mounts, making the discovery considerably more important than an ordinary taxidermy find, the newly authenticated head is particularly unusual.
X-rays have now confirmed what Cranfield suspected. Steven Sleightholme, director of the International Thylacine Specimen Database, confirmed the identification after examining the radiographs.
The skull is intact and in remarkably good condition, despite the exterior being described as a rather crude or “naive” mount. The skull is uncut and remarkably complete, with the radiographs clearly revealing its distinctive dentition, according to ABC News. The team working on thylacine “de-extinction” hopes to collect DNA from the head. Cranfield has said he would prefer to preserve the specimen largely in its existing condition rather than completely remount it.
A mounted animal head that appeared to be little more than an old, poorly made fox has turned out to be something extraordinarily rare. Hidden beneath the stuffing and taxidermy was an almost complete skull belonging to a thylacine, the extinct marsupial also known as the Tasmanian tiger. The discovery has transformed an obscure auction-house curiosity into a scientifically significant specimen. The specimen is now expected to be added to the International Thylacine Specimen Database, while scientists are also interested in obtaining DNA from it. scientific confirmation was still needed Although the teeth had convinced Cranfield that the head was probably a thylacine. Radiographs have now provided that confirmation. The X-rays showed that the animal’s skin had been stretched over a genuine, full skull rather than a replica or altered animal skeleton. The specimen’s lack of provenance means there are still unanswered questions about exactly where and when it was collected. Its age is believed to date to the late 19th century, but researchers hope further investigation may provide more information. The specimen has attracted interest from researchers involved in efforts to understand, and potentially one day revive, the extinct species. Andrew Pask, a University of Melbourne professor and chief biology officer at Colossal Biosciences, is among the scientists interested in examining the specimen. Researchers believe that sequencing DNA from additional thylacines could help build a better picture of the species’ genetic diversity. Each individual genome can add information about differences between animals and the population as a whole. That information is particularly important for any future attempt to recreate aspects of the species’ biology. A genetically diverse population would be far more viable than one based on a narrow genetic sample. However, the immediate scientific value of the specimen does not depend on de-extinction. A genuine thylacine skull is already an important historical and biological record. Ironically, the very features that made the specimen look unconvincing may have helped it escape attention. Cranfield believes the mount’s proportions were distorted by the amount of material packed beneath the skin. X-rays showed traditional taxidermy materials, including wood wool and tow, used to give the head its shape. The stuffing appears to have altered the proportions of the animal’s face, while the unusual eyes and bulbous forehead made it look more like an eccentric fox mount than an extinct Tasmanian predator. From his perspective, the imperfections are part of its history. That approach could also benefit researchers. Altering an old specimen risks destroying evidence about how it was originally prepared and preserved.
For a species that has been extinct for almost 90 years, the discovery offers an unexpected new connection to an animal that has otherwise survived only in photographs, museum collections and historical records. Because a thylacine specimen survived, but because it remained misidentified for so long, the discovery is remarkable not simply. Only a collector’s knowledge of animal anatomy revealed that something much more significant might be concealed beneath the skin.
For years, the mounted head was apparently just another unusual piece of taxidermy. It entered an auction with a modest price estimate and was described as a fox. Now, the X-rays have settled the mystery. The head is a genuine thylacine, complete with an unusually well-preserved skull. Its next chapter is likely to involve researchers, DNA sampling and the International Thylacine Specimen Database rather than an ordinary collector’s cabinet. What looked like a battered fox’s head was, in fact, a piece of one of Australia’s most famous extinct species, and its most important secret was hidden inside the skull.