Punto di interesse
Thylacine
A preserved female of an extinct carnivorous marsupial.
Lingua dei contenuti
The museum’s thylacine is a female, preserved as a taxidermy specimen recreating the animal’s appearance in life. Thylacinus cynocephalus was a marsupial, the largest carnivorous member of that group still living in the early twentieth century. Its resemblance to a wolf does not indicate a close relationship. Similar features evolved independently in different evolutionary lineages, a process called convergence. The Tasmanian devil and quolls are among its closer relatives.
A thylacine was about the size of a medium-sized dog, with yellow-brown fur. Dark transverse stripes extended from the middle of its back across its hindquarters. Males were larger and more heavily built than females. The preserved skin and outline distinguish the specimen from mammals familiar in European forests. Thylacines once inhabited Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. By the time of European settlement, they survived only on Tasmania. Hunting and bounties paid for killing them contributed to their disappearance, alongside habitat loss and other pressures. Preserved specimens now document the appearance of an extinct animal.
Per bambini
A thylacine looks a little like a dog with stripes on its back. This museum specimen is female. A taxidermist preserved its appearance. The species is extinct. It was a marsupial, belonging to the same broad group of mammals as the Tasmanian devil.
Its resemblance to a wolf evolved independently. Scientists call this convergence. Thylacines had yellow-brown fur and dark stripes on the rear of their bodies. They once lived in Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania, later surviving only on Tasmania. People hunted them, and their habitats shrank. Preserved museum specimens show what these animals looked like when they were alive.
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