Thylacine fossil specimens from the Pleistocene:
| This
thylacine skull, which has been left partially embedded in its natural
matrix (cave breccia), was excavated from the Pleistocene cave deposit
"The Bone Cave" on the Murrumbidgee River, NSW. The specimen was
collected by palaeontologist Robert Etheridge Jr. in 1888, who became the
Curator of the Australian Museum in 1895. |
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| A
closer view of the skull. The reddish-brown breccia in which it was
found is typical of cave deposits in eastern Australia. The colour
is caused by the presence of large amounts of iron oxide. |
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Some isolated
thylacine teeth from the Pleistocene of South Australia (images
not shown at relative size to each other).
Teeth are the hardest
structures in the vertebrate body, and thus among the most frequently preserved
as fossils. By comparison, bone weathers away far more quickly.
Not surprisingly, one of the most resilient bones to deterioration is the
dentary
(lower jaw). It is the hardest bone in the body since it supports
teeth, which of course come under heavy pressure and usage over the course
of an animal's life. The bone surrounding the teeth of the maxilla
(upper jaw) is also of considerable strength.
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You can read more about Pleistocene thylacine
fossils in Prehistoric
Range of the Thylacine, in the Natural History
section. |
