Collector Pays Over £60,000 for Rare Thylacine Taxidermy Head at UK Auction
British oddities dealer James Cranfield spent more than £60,000 on a mounted thylacine head he discovered was mis-described as a fox.
James Cranfield, an oddities retailer from Southend-on-Sea, purchased a taxidermied head at a small UK auction for roughly £60,000 after realizing it was not a fox but a thylacine, the extinct Tasmanian tiger. The item had been listed at a modest £40 and originally bought for about £50 by the seller, who was amused by its plastic eyes. Cranfield recognized the eight upper incisors, a trait unique to thylacines, and outbid another dealer during the sale.
Senior zoology curator Kathryn Medlock explained that thylacine material is extremely rare, with only one other mounted head known worldwide. The provenance of the specimen is unclear, but it may date back to bounty-hunting periods in Tasmania between 1888 and 1909. Cranfield intends to conduct X-ray and CT scans to verify the head’s authenticity and is open to lending it to scientific institutions. If confirmed, the find could provide valuable material for research and public exhibition.
Why it matters
A verified thylacine specimen offers rare scientific insight into an extinct species and enriches museum collections.
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