| Skeletons:
Of the 103 skeletons listed within the fifth revision of the ITSD (2013),
there are 29 complete and 5 incomplete wired mounts, and 50 complete and
19 incomplete loose boxed skeletons. The remainder of the skeletal
material [28 specimens] is comprised of individual loose bones. These
totals exclude sub-fossil material.
.
| Skeletons
[region by number] Source:
International Thylacine Specimen Database (2013) |
.
| REGION |
SWC |
SLC |
SWI |
SLI |
TOTALS |
| Tasmania |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
| Mainland
Australia / NZ |
5 |
16 |
3 |
5 |
29 |
| North
America |
1 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
| Asia |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Europe |
12 |
13 |
1 |
5 |
31 |
| UK
and Eire |
9 |
11 |
1 |
4 |
25 |
| . |
|
|
|
|
|
| Totals |
29 |
50 |
5 |
19 |
103 |
. |
.
| SWC
- Skeleton Wired Complete, SLC - Skeleton Loose Complete, SWI - Skeleton
Wired Incomplete, SLI - Skeleton Loose Incomplete. Source: International
Thylacine Specimen Database (2013). |
.
.
Wired
skeletal mount SAM M665. Courtesy: South Australian Museum.
Photo:
N. Ayliffe, International Thylacine Specimen Database (2013). |
Skeletal mounts, although important in demonstrating the visual relationship
between specific bones and joints, are not as valuable to researchers as
stored unarticulated bones.
.
Loose
boxed skeleton NMV C5746. Courtesy: Museum Victoria.
Source:
International Thylacine Specimen Database (2013). |
Loose bones are of importance in many aspects of pure research. They
can be used to accurately determine an animal's size to gauging anatomical
variation within a species. They also provide an opportune source
for the extraction of DNA.
Noteworthy features of the thylacine's post-cranial skeleton are discussed
in the "Anatomy"
subsection.
A number of the loose boxed skeletons retain the remains of dried periarticular
and ligamentous tissues supporting the joints. The pads and claws
of the feet are also occasionally preserved. Specimen UMZC A6/7.5 within
the collection of the Zoology Museum at Cambridge University is such an
example.
.
| Specimen:
CZM A6 7.5. Courtesy: Cambridge University Zoological Museum.
Source: International Thylacine Specimen Database (2013). |
|
.
| Manus
and pes [OUM 2888]. Courtesy: Oxford University Museum of Natural
History. Source: International Thylacine Specimen Database (2013). |
|
Several bone specimens have been mounted and labelled for display or teaching
purposes, as is the case with the thylacine foot bones (OUM 2888) in the
Oxford University Museum of Natural History. |
