In addition to human material, The Harry Brookes Allen Museum has a large number of animal specimens. Many are associated with Frederic Wood Jones, Anatomy Dept. head from 1930-1937, such as this bisected skull from the extinct thylacine.
It was from one of Wood Jones’ displays intended to illustrate convergent evolution - the principle that unrelated animals with similar lifestyles can evolve to look alike. The thylacine’s appearance and anatomy are very similar to dogs. But this is superficial – they are more closely related to kangaroos and other marsupials.
Wood Jones had an ulterior motive for showcasing this evolutionary principle. He didn’t accept that humankind’s closest relatives are chimps and gorillas, and had an alternative hypothesis that we descended from tarsiers; tiny primates from Asia. Wood Jones wanted to plant the idea that just because two groups share anatomical similarities – like humans and chimps – that doesn’t necessarily mean they are closely related.
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