Robert K. Rose, David A. Pemberton, Nick J. Mooney, Menna E. Jones
Mammalian Species 49 (942), 1-17, (1 May 2017) https://doi.org/10.1093/mspecies/sex001
KEYWORDS: Australia, carnivore, marsupial, predator, Sarcophilus, scavenger, Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii (Boitard, 1842), the largest surviving marsupial carnivore, is endemic to Tasmania. The size of a small stocky dog, with males weighing 9 kg and females 6 kg, S. harrisii is a scavenger of large mammals and opportunistic predator of vertebrates. Life span in the wild averaged 3–4 years until the late 1990s when a fatal cancer, transmitted by bites, began devastating populations, primarily adults. Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), a soft-tissue neoplasm usually seen 1st on the head, invariably kills within 6 months of the appearance of symptoms. In the 20 years since the appearance of DFTD, S. harrisii has gone from a species of “Least Concern” to one “Threatened” and potentially on the path to extinction.