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Thylacine (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Allen S. Moore
- Start date
jurek
Well-known member
I wonder if Tasmanian Devils can be released in some reserve in mainland Australia?
They lived there in prehistoric times but were apparently outcompeted by Dingos. Now, with dingos themselves wiped out in much of Australia, Devils can come back. Apparently they can get rid effectively of other introduced vermin - Foxes and Feral Cats.
They lived there in prehistoric times but were apparently outcompeted by Dingos. Now, with dingos themselves wiped out in much of Australia, Devils can come back. Apparently they can get rid effectively of other introduced vermin - Foxes and Feral Cats.
Mike Richardson
Formerly known as Skink1978
I suppose Bruny Island would be one such place as it’s big enough to support Devil Populations, but has none occurring there at present (although there have been anecdotal sightings over the years).
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chowchilla
Well-known member
I just hope they don't screw up the local ecology by doing it. They need to check for evidence of previous devil populations in proposed relocation sites. There are plenty of examples of Aussie natives running amock outside their range within this country.
Of course if ecologically it makes sense then one can hope the species can be saved this way. They are wonderful unique animals.
there is another worry concerning dna and cloning, if it becomes possible to clone the devil and since there is a population to do it from they have a good chance, then it may become an excuse for allowing extinction. The argument would be that since there is a large dna sample stored then they could be brought back in the future.
The sniper
Well-known member
you never know
Allen S. Moore
Well-known member
I read in "Carnivorous Nights" that yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the death of the last thylacine in captivity.
Allen
Allen
jurek
Well-known member
Coming to DNA thread. Some years ago there was an article about so-called "environmental genomics".
It turns, that if one simply takes a sample of soil and applies sensitive DNA extracting techniques, one can recover DNA signatures of most plants and animals living in the area. Scientists used it to estimate when very last mammoths and horses roamed prehistoric North America. I must say I didn't follow it further, and don't know if this technique caught up.
But this may be ideal for searching scarce Australian fauna. Just take samples from lairs, burrows, waterholes and similar places which are probably visited by marsupials, Night Parrots etc. And maybe you discover DNA, to search them further. Alternatively, no DNA would be a sad confirmation of absence.
It turns, that if one simply takes a sample of soil and applies sensitive DNA extracting techniques, one can recover DNA signatures of most plants and animals living in the area. Scientists used it to estimate when very last mammoths and horses roamed prehistoric North America. I must say I didn't follow it further, and don't know if this technique caught up.
But this may be ideal for searching scarce Australian fauna. Just take samples from lairs, burrows, waterholes and similar places which are probably visited by marsupials, Night Parrots etc. And maybe you discover DNA, to search them further. Alternatively, no DNA would be a sad confirmation of absence.
chris butterworth
aka The Person Named Above
Hmmmmmmmmmm Sounds interesting. Any idea of where the article / paper was published?
Chris
chowchilla
Well-known member
A report just published suggests that the Thylacine's jaws were too weak to tackle anything much larger than a Bandicoot. They effectively exonerated it from being a sheep, or even lamb killer.
In other words, the reason it was hunted to extinction was in itself no justification for killing it, making its extinction all the more pointless and sad...
In other words, the reason it was hunted to extinction was in itself no justification for killing it, making its extinction all the more pointless and sad...
jurek
Well-known member
Hi, try:
Science. 2003 May 2;300(5620):791-5. Epub 2003 Apr 17.
Diverse plant and animal genetic records from Holocene and Pleistocene sediments.
Willerslev E, Hansen AJ, Binladen J, Brand TB, Gilbert MT, Shapiro B, Bunce M, Wiuf C, Gilichinsky DA, Cooper A.
But I am sure there was at least one more publication which found DNA from many local plants and animals simply in the soil. I cannot find it now.
Allen S. Moore
Well-known member
I meant to post that I was in Dublin in September and read in the local Lonely Planet guide that the exhibits in Dublin's Natural History Museum include a taxidermy of a thylacine. I made a point of going for a look, as I had never seen a stuffed thylacine, a sad sight. There was also a skeleton and three skulls. Dublin wasn't even the centre of the Empire, although I read somewhere that a lot of the exhibits were from someone's private collection.
Allen
Allen
ChrisKten
It's true, I quite like Pigeons
I've not read through this thread, but I'm pretty sure that this will have been posted before; but just in case:
Here's the footage and clips of the last Thylacine:
http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/films/films.htm
I've watched the videos many times over the years, and "sad" doesn't really describe how I feel while watching them. It's such a fascinating-looking Animal, and it never looks quite real to me, but of course it was real. The fact that the species wasn't even guilty of the "crimes" it was punished for makes it harder to accept that we caused it's extinction.
I'd like to think that our Species has learned from what happened to the Thylacine, but we haven't have we?
Here's the footage and clips of the last Thylacine:
http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/films/films.htm
I've watched the videos many times over the years, and "sad" doesn't really describe how I feel while watching them. It's such a fascinating-looking Animal, and it never looks quite real to me, but of course it was real. The fact that the species wasn't even guilty of the "crimes" it was punished for makes it harder to accept that we caused it's extinction.
I'd like to think that our Species has learned from what happened to the Thylacine, but we haven't have we?
Isurus
Well-known member
There is a pretty good (if that word can be used in this context) specimen in the Grant Museum of Zoology in London (alongside a Quagga and a case of Dodo bones) which is worth a look if people are in London and interested in that sort of thing. It's quite a small museum which doesn't take long to get round but is proper old school in terms of displaying specimens and hence has some interesting stuff on the shelves.
I remember being impressed and saddened as a child seeing a stuffed thylacine in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. Also, the Natural History museum in London used to have one. I assume both are still on show as nobody is going to throw out a presumably extinct animal.
Allen S. Moore
Well-known member
I was in the Natural History Museum in London myself last July but didn't see a stuffed thylacine. It was a bit of a rushed visit, 2-3 hours, I suppose, so I might have missed some of the rooms. Can anyone confirm whether the stuffed thylacine is still on display?
I have the same reaction as ChrisKten to seeing the films of thylacines when they were still alive.
Allen
