Thylacine cranium

Australian National University - Centre for Digital Humanities Research

The thylacine, more commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, was a carnivorous (meat-eating) marsupial. The species became extinct around 1936 after extensive hunting by colonists. This skull is part of a research collection currently looked after by archaeologists at the Australian National University. The full skeleton and cranium is fragile, but well preserved. It is still used by students learning to identify the types of bones and bone fragments that may be discovered during archaeological digs. We don’t know much about the skeleton’s origins. It was probably collected by a researcher at some point to try to learn more about this unique species.