March 21, 2014Michael WeinzierlBureau of Biodiversity Awareness, Feature Article, Issue Sixteen,Magazine, The Island Biogeography OfficeBiodiversity, Citizen Science, cryptozoology, Education, field study,leeches, marsupial, Natural History, Science, Southwest, Wilderness
Authors: Michael Weinzierl ’15 and Professor Eugene Domack, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA.
Learn more about their field excursion at Tasmanian Field Studies
Abstract
The Tasmanian Tiger (scientifically known as the thylacine) has survived in Tasmanian folklore as a legend and highly elusive animal to many who insist in its existence. A new technique in cryptozoology has allowed researchers to locate highly elusive and thought-to-be extinct animals, thereby proving their existence and increasing efforts to protect these ultra-rare animals. The technique, which involves collecting local leech samples and cross-analyzing the ingested blood with known target animal genomes, has proven effective in past trials and could be applied to Tasmania and the Tiger. Piggybacking off previous work from thylacine researchers, it may be possible to find leeches containing tiger blood and narrow the extent of their geographic range.
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