Moeller (1973) made an allometric comparison of the thylacine with a hypothetical Dasyurus viverrinus (Eastern quoll) of equivalent brain case length.  Almost every measurement was longer in the thylacine.  The intertemporal width was the most outstanding, which protruded out 196.6% greater than in the Dasyurus, to house a brain which is 73.82% larger.  The thylacine's posterior palatal foramina (maxillary palatal vacuities) were twice the size of those of the hypothetical Dasyurus.  Due to the size of the teeth, the nasals were 53.4% larger, and when the tooth-row was compared to the basal skull length, it was found to be 49.2% longer in the thylacine.  The cheek teeth alone were longer by 64.4%.

    Despite the presence of the typical marsupial cranial features, Moeller (1968) also demonstrated how the thylacine's facial region is analogous to that of a wolf (Canis lupus).  However, due to the thylacine's smaller teeth, a more appropriate comparison would be with a jackal or coyote.  The skulls are rather variable in respect to both absolute size and in the proportions of the parts, but to no greater extent than in the wolf.  Initially, the young of both species differ greatly, but they become more similar with age.  There is an observable difference in skull size between the sexes, as the male thylacine is physically somewhat larger and has a proportionately bigger skull with correspondingly longer face.
 

    The mandible's coronoid process (a structure which provides an attachment for the temporal muscle) is much slanted back.  The nasals are long and somewhat expanded posteriorly.  The palate's fenestrations are large.  The anterior ones (the palatal foramina) are long and narrow, ending behind the centre of the canines.  The posterior ones (maxillary palatal vacuities) extend from opposite the second molar to just behind the last (Thomas 1888).

    The frontal sinuses are quite large, which causes a distinctive bulge in the forehead.  Their size  correlates reliably with with the length of the cranium, and brain capacity (Moeller 1968).  Although the para-occipital processes are very reduced, the postorbital processes are strong because of the rather forward directed eyes (Tate 1947).  Behind them, the skull becomes quite constricted.  The infra-orbital foramen, which is large and oval,  has a small bar of bone which divides it into unequal sections (Thomas 1888).  In dasyurids, the antorbital canal lies entirely within the maxilla, but in Thylacinus, it lies so far back that its posterior margin is bordered by the jugal (Tate 1947).
 

. The basicranial region of the thylacine skull.

The comprehensive study of the basicranium made by Archer (1976b), can only be discussed lightly here.  The thylacine resembles the didelphids (opossums) of the New World in its lack of a mastoid epitympanic sinus and the presence of a prominent basioccipital, and approximates them in the manner in which the dorsal surface of the internal carotid is enclosed for only a short length. The pituitary fossa is quite small or non-existent.

    The squamosal epitympanic sinus is of moderate size, and, in difference to the case with the majority of marsupicarnivores, the alisphenoid is not in contact with the parietal.  An unusual aspect of the postglenoid fossa is that it is divided into two branches: one in the squamosal and the other between the squamosal, periotic and, occasionally, the alisphenoid.  Either branch however may be absent in individual specimens.

    The braincase of Thylacinus is tubular and "telescoped" posteriorly.  The basisphenoids and basioccipitals are wide and flattened.  The paraoccipitals are near to the small, virtually transparent bullae, and the mastoid processes are compressed near to the glenoid processes (Tate 1947).  Because the braincase of Thylacinus is small, robust lambdoidal and saggital crests are developed to support the jaw muscles.