The detailed research on this specimen and the other material recovered may take some time to complete, as it will be done in conjunction with experts both in Australia and overseas.

The research may provide new information on two controversial topics ? the origins, and relationships of Thylacoleo to other marsupials - and a precise date for
its extinction. The complete skeleton will also enable scientists to more accurately reconstruct what Thylacoleo looked like, and how
it lived.

One of the projects proposed for the near future is to cast the skeleton to enable a free-standing reconstruction for display in the Western Australian Museum?s Diamonds to Dinosaurs gallery.

The Thylacoleo will compliment the other rare and unique items on display there, such as the 4,500-year-old mummified Thylacine, also from a Nullarbor cave.

DNA testing will be carried out by Dr Alan Cooper from Oxford University in England.