MAMMALIA: MARSUPIALIA: DASYURIDAE: Sarcophilus

Sarcophilus harrisii Geoffroy St.-Hillaire and Cuvier, 1837

Tasmanian devil

Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

Range: At present restricted to Australia's island state of Tasmania.

Diagnosis: A small, stock animal with a very short tail, large ears, and some type of white marking (often a broad V shape) on the throat or shoulders.

Description: 

Natural History: A small, feisty hunter that feeds upon a variety of organisms, including insects, snails, crayfish, lizards, birds, eggs, snakes (including venomous species) and a variety of vegetable matter. They also consume the carrion remains of larger mammals. 

In temperament devils are quite variable. I have seen specimens savage a pair of sunglasses accidentally dropped in an enclosure, and I have seen others that are as tame as puppies.

Reproduction: Mates from March to April. Two to four young are born after about a month, and they leave the pouch after some three months.

Taxonomy & Relationships: The only living species in its genus.

Variation: Many specimens have very tiny white markings. Fur color may be black, blue-black, or dark brown.

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

Literature: Click on book to order.

Nowak, Ronald. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World, Fifth Edition. Two volumes. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN: 0-8018-3970-X.  

Strahan, Ronald (editor). 1995. Mammals of Australia. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN: 1-56098-673-5