Sir Colin MacKenzie (1877-1938) accumulated for the purpose of research the largest single collection of “wet” thylacine specimens in existence.  Wet specimens are whole animals, organs or body parts preserved in either alcohol or formalin.  Sir Colin MacKenzie was an eminent Melbourne-based orthopaedic surgeon who devoted much of his life to the study of Australian fauna.  In 1919 he formed and financed the Australian Institute of Anatomical Research and began building a collection of preserved specimens of Australian wildlife.  This work intensified in the 1920s when the Victorian government granted him permission to establish a field research station at Healesville that enabled him to breed and collect native animals for use as anatomical specimens. 
 

. A photo taken in 1938 of the Australian Institute of Anatomy in Canberra, where the vast collection of anatomical specimens (including those of the thylacine) accumulated by Sir Colin MacKenzie were once housed.  Amongst the institute's functions were serving as a natural history museum and conducting nutritional research.

In 1924 he wrote:      “Unfortunately these animals are fast disappearing, and, in less than twenty years it is computed, will, in the absence of rigid protective measures, be all extinct”.      MacKenzie generously donated his entire collection of over 2000 specimens to the Australian nation and in 1924 the government responded by creating the National Museum of Australian Zoology to house them and appointing him as its first director.  In 1931, the museum became known as the Australian Institute of Anatomy to coincide with the opening of its Canberra home.

    The Australian Institute of Anatomy closed in December 1985 and the MacKenzie collection transferred to its current home at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.  MacKenzie's focus on the anatomical attributes of his specimens reduced their value from a zoological perspective as he failed to keep detailed records for each specimen, only labelling them with a brief description of the organ preserved and the common name of the animal.  Although MacKenzie did not contribute directly to our knowledge of the internal anatomy of the thylacine, his legacy was the foresight to collect and preserve all of its organ systems for future generations of scientists to study.

    Bernard William Tucker (1901-1950) was a demonstrator in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at Oxford University.  He performed a detailed dissection and study of the head of the London Zoo's last female thylacine that was on display at the zoo from 26 January 1926 until her death on 9 August 1931.  Surprisingly, in his report of 1882, Cunningham did not make any comment on the anatomy of the head of either of his specimens.  Tucker was surprised when asked to undertake the study that virtually nothing had previously been written on the subject.  Tucker states:

    “Considerable attention has been paid to the head and neck musculature of marsupials and naturally a certain amount of information on the cranial nerves and blood vessels is scattered throughout the literature, but nowhere could I find the kind of coherent and comprehensive account of these portions of the anatomy of a marsupial type which I had expected would afford a basis of comparison with Thylacinus.  No doubt a partial explanation of this astonishing state of affairs is that morphologists have found the cranial anatomy of the marsupials so closely similar to that of the placentals.  This similarity, indeed, is well known.  Yet it seems very strange and highly unsatisfactory that there should be any part of the anatomy of a whole sub-class of mammals of which a full and connected account is not available.  This consideration, together with the fact that the extreme rarity of Thylacinus seemed to render it almost a duty to make the fullest possible use of the material, convinced me of the need to make a more detailed study than I had first visualised”.

    Tucker examined both the arterial and venous flow and the deep and superficial nerve supply to the head and produced comprehensive notes and working drawings of his findings.  His study of the cranial anatomy is still the most detailed ever produced.  He also wrote a full account of the musculature of the neck and shoulder.  Tucker's unpublished notes and drawings are now held in the collection of the Oxford University Museum together with the remains of the dissected head (Specimen OUM 7942) (Source: ITSD 2005).