Police are investigating the theft of several rare animal skeletons, including a “full hippopotamus skull”, from the Sydney University’s teaching collection.

They say thieves made off with valuable animal skeletons from the Camperdown campus last week between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Also among the items stolen were the skeleton of a Hawksbill sea turtle, including its shell, a slow loris – a kind of nocturnal primate – and a “full dog”, police said.

The full hippopotamus skull stolen from the Sydney University in Camperdown. Photograph: NSW Police Force

The acting crime manager from Sydney’s inner west police area command, Mark George, said the skeletons were original specimens collected by a natural history dealer and taxidermist from Prague and dated back to 1880.

“We have released images of the stolen skeletons, which are rare and valuable,” he said.

“We hope the community can provide us with some fresh information that helps us recover the skeletons, and return them to the museum which is involved in the teaching of undergraduate students.”

George said the police had discovered three other skeletons, which appeared to have been left behind by the thieves after the break-in. Those, along with other items found at the scene, were being forensically examined, he said.