Bill Warren figures to turn a $5 garage sale buy into $70,000 after finding what may be the pelt of an extinct Tasmanian tiger, according to the web site SignOnSanDiego.
The Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a carnivore that resembled a striped coyote and vanished from its Australian haunt nearly 80 years ago. It was a marsupial (creatures including kangaroos
that carry young in a pouch).
The last wild Tasmanian tiger was killed between 1910 and 1920, and the last captive one died in 1936 at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania, Australia. In 1986, the creature was declared extinct. (The DNA of Tasmanian tigers was recently resurrected in mice, interestingly.)
Warren said neither he nor the seller knew what they had. Then he did some Internet research. Most pelts of this creature are in museums so they're rare and, you guessed it, an auction house is now involved.
The tasmanian tiger is not the same thing as the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), a fierce-looking, dog-sized marsupial that's fighting cancer.
Full story at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/nov/03/he-might-have-tiger-pelt/
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