Faunal Fun in Tasmania!

So many posts, but I want to keep this all organized. Quick reference for my team is key!

 

Okay, so I've been focusing on the aboriginal population,  but one of the more exciting parts of natural science is the study of faunal specimens.

 

In an earlier post I took a screen capture of a page from the Tasmanian Exhibition that listed some of the island's faunal species. In that post I took note of the amount of marsupials. Not only do they have many marsupials, but it has (or had) two of the world's largest carnivorous marsupials.

 

Probably the most fascinating (to me, at least) species that lived on the island is the (now) extinct Thylacine. If we only incorporate ONE faunal picture into our exhibit, it really should be this guy.

Naturalist George Harris' illustration of two newly described species: The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) and Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus).

 

 

Perhaps the last two Thylacine to be photographed.

 

George Harris made the first scientific description of this animal. Extinction of the animal is attributed to overhunting, bounties were originally opposed in 1830. Harris placed the animal into the genus Didelphis, which would place it with Opossums. People today still claim to see Thylacines, but they most likely died out earlier in the 20th century. Part of what makes these guys so interesting is that their extinction was most likely attributed directly to colonialism. They died  off right after this age of discovery, so all of our scientific observations come directly from this romantic era. I wonder if the Beardsleys witnessed this creature?

 

 

 

The Tasmanian devil is well known thanks to the cartoon character who he share's it's name with. Directly AFTER the extinction of the aforementioned Thylacine, the Tasmanian Devil became the world's largest carnivorous marsupial.

 

Our buddy George Harris detailed this little guy as well. And, as with the Thylacine, he tried to place the Tasmanian Devil into the Didelphis genus. He must have had Opposums on the mind!

 

Speaking of George Harris…It turns out he was the "deputy surveyor" of Tasmania from 1803 until his death in 1810. The man surveyed not only fauna but FLORA as well. To top it off, Harris painted what he saw (such as the first Thylacine photo in this post) what he saw. This is getting pretty exciting! I’m going to have to look more into George Harris. It looks like he was one of Tasmania’s earliest naturalists. This could be really good for our exhibit. Here is some of his writing on the two species.