Post by Thylacoleo Gal on Sept 28, 2006 13:49:34 GMT 10
Questers, this follows on from the previous post ..
Mainland Tassie Devils: THE THYLACINE CONNECTION
Interestingly in regard to thylacines, Cameron Campbell of the Thylacine Museum
www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/naturalhistory/anatomy/internal_anatomy_6.htm , discovered the following about Sir Colin MacKenzie's collection of Australian marsupial skeletons --->
The Australian Institute of Anatomy closed in December 1985 and the MacKenzie collection transferred to its current home at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. MacKenzie's focus on the anatomical attributes of his specimens reduced their value from a zoological perspective as he failed to keep detailed records for each specimen, only labelling them with a brief description of the organ preserved and the common name of the animal.
So, what it boils down to is, we don't know how and when specimens such as Tassie Devils and Thylacines actually arrived in the anatomical collection.
However, based on Cameron's sound research, we know Sir Colin's collection did include Thylacines -->
Sir Colin MacKenzie (1837-1938) accumulated for the purpose of research the largest single collection of wet thylacine specimens in existence. Wet specimens are whole animals, organs or body parts preserved in either alcohol or formalin. (Thylacine Museum)
Furthermore, because the collection left Sir Colin's hands in 1924, we may infer that the thylacine specimens in question pre-date that year. Are we therefore justified in drawing this conclusion: Live Thylacines were present at Coranderrk/Badger Creek in the period 1919 to 1924?
If they were, the possibility of escape can not be dismisssed, simply because the facilities were so primitive. We note that although the last(?) thylacine allegedly died in 1936, the animals were still available for export in the 19-teens and 1920s. Hence live specimens would not have been beyond reach for a man of substantial means, as Sir Colin quite evidently was.
Also from Cameron's Thylacine Museum web site --->
In 1924 he (MacKenzie) wrote:
Unfortunately these animals are fast disappearing, and, in less than twenty years it is computed, will, in the absence of rigid protective measures, be all extinct.
The paragraph is ambiguous. Was he referring to Thylacines in particular? Or was he grimly contemplating the prospective loss of many native species? We can tell from his life story that Sir Colin MacKenzie was not only a wealthy man but was also a man of deeds. Given that Sir Colin was deeply fascinated by native marsupials, given that he was a man who, on all the evidence, was apalled at the prospect of extinctions among them, is it reasonable to imagine that Tasmanian Thylacines, clearly endangered, were deliberately released by him? Presumably somewhere near Coranderrk. It's a possibility that needs to be seriously considered, IMHO, yet never has been, as far as I know.
As far as I can tell, Sir Colin was the one man who, uniquely, had the knowledge, the means, the motive and the opportunity to save the Thylacine. What if the wonderful Healesville Sanctuary were not his only legacy?
NOTE: Plezio, does Dr Paddle discuss this scenario in his book? Don't have a copy, unfortunately.
Interestingly also, Dr Bob Paddle discovered (The Age, 11/8/2001) that 4 Thylacine pups were successfully bred at Melbourne Zoo in 1899. One lived to age 22 months and is now a stuffed specimen at the Melbourne Museum. The only known captive-bred Thylacine in the world. What became of the others? As far as I know, no one knows. It appears that thylacines could not/did not/chose not to breed with close relatives. There's a physiological mechanism behind this that involves MHC (Major Histo-Combitability) antigens apparently. Therefore the trick was to enclose unrelated males and females. Bingo! Then you got little baby thylacines. Why didn't they follow up on this in 1900? Why didn't foreign zoos do it? Don't know. But could Dr MacKenzie have known of it in 1919? Possibly. Very possibly. Coranderrk "Research Station" was intended for specimen preparation and marsupial breeding. In order to be granted his lease and permissions, he must have had a pretty effective peer network, one that would logically have included experts at the Zoo and the Museum.
THYLACINE CONNECTION #2.
Interesting, these odd coincidences.
Sir Colin died in 1938. Full of honours, no doubt. During the 1930s there was an enterprising animal photographer who became curator of mammals at Melbourne Zoo. His name was David Fleay, the very same fellow who took the famous profile photo of a Tasmanian Thylacine showing the incredible "gape" of its jaws. Mr Fleahy fell out with the managing committee of Melbourne Zoo and was sacked. There are uncanny similarities with the pettiness that led to the 1936 death of Benjamin, the last(?) Tassie Thylacine in Hobart Zoo. David Fleay then became director of - guess where? Healesville Sanctuary. That was in about 1941, I think?
So there you have it, Questers. Are these bush legends completely loopy and out of the question? You decide.
Debbie
Mainland Tassie Devils: THE THYLACINE CONNECTION
Interestingly in regard to thylacines, Cameron Campbell of the Thylacine Museum
www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/naturalhistory/anatomy/internal_anatomy_6.htm , discovered the following about Sir Colin MacKenzie's collection of Australian marsupial skeletons --->
The Australian Institute of Anatomy closed in December 1985 and the MacKenzie collection transferred to its current home at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. MacKenzie's focus on the anatomical attributes of his specimens reduced their value from a zoological perspective as he failed to keep detailed records for each specimen, only labelling them with a brief description of the organ preserved and the common name of the animal.
So, what it boils down to is, we don't know how and when specimens such as Tassie Devils and Thylacines actually arrived in the anatomical collection.
However, based on Cameron's sound research, we know Sir Colin's collection did include Thylacines -->
Sir Colin MacKenzie (1837-1938) accumulated for the purpose of research the largest single collection of wet thylacine specimens in existence. Wet specimens are whole animals, organs or body parts preserved in either alcohol or formalin. (Thylacine Museum)
Furthermore, because the collection left Sir Colin's hands in 1924, we may infer that the thylacine specimens in question pre-date that year. Are we therefore justified in drawing this conclusion: Live Thylacines were present at Coranderrk/Badger Creek in the period 1919 to 1924?
If they were, the possibility of escape can not be dismisssed, simply because the facilities were so primitive. We note that although the last(?) thylacine allegedly died in 1936, the animals were still available for export in the 19-teens and 1920s. Hence live specimens would not have been beyond reach for a man of substantial means, as Sir Colin quite evidently was.
Also from Cameron's Thylacine Museum web site --->
In 1924 he (MacKenzie) wrote:
Unfortunately these animals are fast disappearing, and, in less than twenty years it is computed, will, in the absence of rigid protective measures, be all extinct.
The paragraph is ambiguous. Was he referring to Thylacines in particular? Or was he grimly contemplating the prospective loss of many native species? We can tell from his life story that Sir Colin MacKenzie was not only a wealthy man but was also a man of deeds. Given that Sir Colin was deeply fascinated by native marsupials, given that he was a man who, on all the evidence, was apalled at the prospect of extinctions among them, is it reasonable to imagine that Tasmanian Thylacines, clearly endangered, were deliberately released by him? Presumably somewhere near Coranderrk. It's a possibility that needs to be seriously considered, IMHO, yet never has been, as far as I know.
As far as I can tell, Sir Colin was the one man who, uniquely, had the knowledge, the means, the motive and the opportunity to save the Thylacine. What if the wonderful Healesville Sanctuary were not his only legacy?
NOTE: Plezio, does Dr Paddle discuss this scenario in his book? Don't have a copy, unfortunately.
Interestingly also, Dr Bob Paddle discovered (The Age, 11/8/2001) that 4 Thylacine pups were successfully bred at Melbourne Zoo in 1899. One lived to age 22 months and is now a stuffed specimen at the Melbourne Museum. The only known captive-bred Thylacine in the world. What became of the others? As far as I know, no one knows. It appears that thylacines could not/did not/chose not to breed with close relatives. There's a physiological mechanism behind this that involves MHC (Major Histo-Combitability) antigens apparently. Therefore the trick was to enclose unrelated males and females. Bingo! Then you got little baby thylacines. Why didn't they follow up on this in 1900? Why didn't foreign zoos do it? Don't know. But could Dr MacKenzie have known of it in 1919? Possibly. Very possibly. Coranderrk "Research Station" was intended for specimen preparation and marsupial breeding. In order to be granted his lease and permissions, he must have had a pretty effective peer network, one that would logically have included experts at the Zoo and the Museum.
THYLACINE CONNECTION #2.
Interesting, these odd coincidences.
Sir Colin died in 1938. Full of honours, no doubt. During the 1930s there was an enterprising animal photographer who became curator of mammals at Melbourne Zoo. His name was David Fleay, the very same fellow who took the famous profile photo of a Tasmanian Thylacine showing the incredible "gape" of its jaws. Mr Fleahy fell out with the managing committee of Melbourne Zoo and was sacked. There are uncanny similarities with the pettiness that led to the 1936 death of Benjamin, the last(?) Tassie Thylacine in Hobart Zoo. David Fleay then became director of - guess where? Healesville Sanctuary. That was in about 1941, I think?
So there you have it, Questers. Are these bush legends completely loopy and out of the question? You decide.
Debbie
