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The 47

THE THYLACINE. By GRAHAM RENSHAW, M.D., F.R.S.E. Lecturer in Zoology, Extramural Department, Manchester University. Recent Press notices of the almost extinct Thylacine or " " of suggest that the following notes on the species may be of interest. The Thylacine ( cynocephalus) stands about 18^ inches high at the shoulder ; the general body colour is greyish brown tinged with d younan , g animale ar s darker than their parents, judging froe familmth y group mounted in the Liverpool Museum. The loins are marked with about sixteen black bands arising fro mlina e running alon spine gth e thi; mos a s si t remarkable pattern, very rare among , being shared only by the Banded , the Hardwicke Hemigale (an aberrant Civet), and the Zebra Antelope of West Africa. So curious is it that Lydekker has remarked of the Zebra Antelope : " This coloratio quits ni e unique among Ruminant rivald an s s that marsupiae oth f l Thylacin " (Royale Natural History, vol, ii . thesf o e . 310)ep bandOn . frequentls i s y double. The head of the Thylacine is squarish, relatively large, and strangely dog-like ; the muzzle seen from the front is attenu- ated between the widened cheeks. Like the Dog of Africa Thylacine th hallu, o grean " s tair e x o toee" tha l Th . is ver l specimeny al curiou n i d san writese seeth y nrb slanted rigidly behinanimae th s da l walke Thylacino n g d; wa n eca tails it . This appendag nakes i e lateralld dan y compressed, recallin e water-lovin th e tai f gth o l g extinct Anoplotherium restores a Cuviey db r; indee Geoffre. dM y lon suggesteo gag d that from the form of the tail the Thylacine might be aquatic ! The opens backward and the young scramble into it upside down. On 21st April, 1807 r JosepSi , h Banks communicateo dt the Linnean Society Mr. G. P. Harris's " Description of two new specie f Didelphiso s froDiemen'n mVa o s LanTw . d" —the first know science—hao nt d been taken near 48 Preservatione Societyth r FaunaEmpiree e fo th th f f o o

Hobart, and with the newly-discovered had been provisionally classed as ; the type Thylacine only hours w livefe da , having been injurea n i d trap. It would be interesting to know if it was this individual that was exhibited by William Bullock in London in 1812 Thylacin" e ath s r Zebro e a e onlth ,y known specime Museuy Bulloce an Th n i n m. k" collection being sol n 181 i de anima 9th s probabl wa l y purchasee th y b d Linnean Society, who certainly bought the rare Black from the same series ; at any rate Temminck of Leyden noted that in 1824 the Linnean Society possessed a smallish specimen and it was he who by comparing Harris's type wit aduln ha tLeyde e skulth n i l n collection showed thae tth forme immatures wa r . Thu e Harrith s s Thylacine th d ean Linnean Thylacine were possibl e samth y e individual; cas y type ean th en i specimet bu bees nha n lost thao ,s t further speculatio uselesss ni . The early stockowners found the Thylacine a serious pest, Zealand w Parroa foNe rKe f lik e t o tacquirei , eth tastda e for fresh mutton. Poison was useless for it never returned carcasee th o t thao s , deaa t d sheep doctored with strychnine was worse than wasted ; pursued with hounds, old males proved tough customers, snapping right and left and more tha na matc r severahfo l dogs. Harris's old-fashioned trap baited with seemed as good as anything, for the Thylacine was easily snared. In 1871 a zoological sensation became current, for it seemed possible that the Thylacine, a Tasmanian , also inhabited . That it formerly did so there is no possible doubt, for remains of an allied species (Thylacinus spelceus) have been found in the deposits of Wellington Valley werd an , e presente Couny db t Strzelecki College th o Surgeont f eo s Museum t appeareI . d that when out with his dog near Rockinghani Bay a lad named Sheridan attentios hi d ha n drawe furiouth o nt s barkin e dogth ,f go which took up scent from a piece of scrub and, following the trail for half a mile, came up with a beast as big as a dog lying in the grass. It had a round face like a cat's and a long The Thylacine 49

tail; the body was striped from the ribs under the belly with throws pluckilg yellow wa do black. d t e n; an ybu Th t flei t wa Sheridan approache d firedan d , woundine headth n i . t i g The barkingmysterioudog the ,treea s but ,up beas ran t it became savage and rushed first at the dog and then at Sheridan ; from the description it can hardly have been anythin a Thylacine t e onlbu gth yr fo othe, r candidate is the Banded Wallaby, a small species of timid disposition and very unlikel able b thro o et o y t wterriera confirman I . - tion Mr. Hull's party, surveying the Murray and Mackay River 1873n si , foun imprinn a d four-toeda f o t animal with non-retractile claws sketca : h time madth et ea show s spoor which might well be that of a Thylacine. Skin hunters included the Thylacine amongst their quarry lats a s 188 ea d 0an hawkers use purchaso dt pelte er th sfo resal Hobartn ei 188n thoughI s . 3 wa scare thera t i s r t ewa fo , that the species had been exterminated. Happily Mr. Crowther of Launcesto s abl o showa nt e w t thae animano th ts wa l extinct; a nearly adult pair purchased from him arrived at e London 14to th ho NovembernZo e write, th 1884 d r an , well remembers them, flourishing in excellent condition on a die f rabbitso t . A Thylacine studiewritee activth s y wa rdb e durine gth earl exerciss it ydaye n i par th o f ,e o fr trunnin yardd an , o gt heae th d hellikw hound'ea dlo scent n bease so Th .t often paused abruptly, as if to reconnoitre, standing motionless • with head raise t i too d; k little e attendannoticth f o e t enterin yarde f half-blindei gth s a , e sunth . y db Whe e nth light became powerful it often retreated to the inner den, wher t woul i t curleei t bu d d; als itselg olikp do reclinu fe a e e sun o basth t a strang , n i k e a semi-nocturnahabi r fo t l side eanimalon fulln o ysleey n I extende.la t pi uppere th d; - most ear remaining erect confirmed the original description of Harris t neveI . r uttere soundy dan , thoug e keepehth r said tha t wouli t d his r grunso f disturbedi t .