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The
Mammal Collections (continued):
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The left hand (manus) of one of the museum's thylacine skins. Despite
the structural differences pointed out previously between the feet of a
canid and the thylacine, you can see from this photo that the nails are
in fact rather similar to those of a dog. Unlike those of a felid,
they are not retractable and are quite dull as opposed to the sharp, gripping
claws of cats. |
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One of the thylacine skulls in the Australian Museum's collection. |
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This skull is in fact not a natural specimen, but an exceptionally
well-made cast resin replica which has been coloured to resemble the original
from which it was made. Speaking as someone with casting experience,
I must say that this is a truly remarkable piece of work, and certainly
one of the best I've yet seen. |
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A thylacine cranium which unfortunately is missing some of its dentition. |
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This is a thylacine brain - one of only a very few known to exist in museum
collections. The thylacine probably has the most highly developed
brain found among the marsupials. It is considerably more complex
than even that of rather close relatives such as Sarcophilus and
Dasyurus. |
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Another view of the same brain. The folds of the cerebral cortex
can be seen from this angle. The label reads: Thylacinus
cynocephalus, 1 Brain, Received from Dr. Clements, Canberra, (Shellshear
Collection). The specimen is preserved in formalin. |
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