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THE THYLACINE IN ART:
- NATURAL HISTORY ILLUSTRATION -
Image thirteen - Joseph M. Gleeson
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Among the most extraordinary of all thylacine paintings is this 1902 work by artist Joseph M. Gleeson.  It is the only known historical painting which portrays a female thylacine with an offspring being held within the pouch.  The tail and striped hindquarters of the juvenile held in the pouch can readily be seen (view detail).  This unique illustration was inspired by a thylacine family unit (a mother and her three young) that arrived at the US National Zoo in Washington, DC on 3 September 1902.  Two of the young were females, the third was a male.  Gleeson made the preparatory drawings for the painting within just a few days of the group's arrival.  Along with Charles Knight, Joseph Gleeson helped to illustrate Frederic A. Lucas's book "Animals of the Past".

In a personal e-mail communication on 7 July 2005, my colleague Dr. Stephen Sleightholme, director of the International Thylacine Specimen Database Project, adds the following information regarding the individuals depicted in Gleeson's illustration:

"The pup (a female) portrayed in the mother's pouch was sick on arrival and unfortunately died on 12 September 1902.  From the growth rate data that we have collected as an adjunct to work on the ITSD, it appears that the pups portrayed in Gleeson's painting were between 4 and 5 months old.  Under normal circumstances the mother would not have tolerated a healthy pup of that age returning to the pouch so she must have been aware that the youngster was ill.  The mother and her three pups are now preserved within the Smithsonian collection".

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Thylacine wolf and pups from Tasmania - Joseph M. Gleeson
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