LONDON — A London family discovered a rare mounted thylacine head stored under a bed for decades, the auction house said Thursday. The specimen, nicknamed "Trevor" by Auctioneum staff, is one of only three known mounted thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) heads in existence and is expected to sell for £30,000 to £50,000 at Auctioneum's auction in Bath on November 26.
The family contacted the auction house after seeing news reports about a similar earlier thylacine head sale. Auctioneum authenticated the specimen using X-ray scans, confirming the original skull was intact inside the mount, and added it to the International Thylacine Specimen Database.
The thylacine, a meat-eating marsupial once native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, was hunted to extinction; the last known individual, named Benjamin, died in captivity at Hobart Zoo in September 1936. Records held by scientific institutions show only 756 physical thylacine specimens are known worldwide, of which 101 are taxidermy mounts. Complete mounted heads are even rarer and make up the smallest group of surviving specimens.
Unlike an earlier Auctioneum sale where a mounted head had plastic googly eyes added by a previous owner, the newly discovered specimen is in good condition with no alterations. Andrew Stowe of Auctioneum said finding such rare items in private homes in the UK was "unbelievably rare." The very small number of thylacine specimens available on the open market also makes the item especially valuable, he said.
The specimen will be the first lot on the second day of Auctioneum's fine art and antiques auction in Bath on November 26. Because the head is fragile, viewing is by appointment only. The auction is expected to attract interest from international institutions, private collectors and natural history museums, partly due to strict laws limiting the export and sale of historic animal remains.
