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1 May 2017 Sarcophilus harrisii (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae)
Robert K. Rose, David A. Pemberton, Nick J. Mooney, Menna E. Jones
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

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.

© 2017 by American Society of Mammalogists.
Robert K. Rose, David A. Pemberton, Nick J. Mooney, and Menna E. Jones "Sarcophilus harrisii (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae)," Mammalian Species 49(942), 1-17, (1 May 2017). https://doi.org/10.1093/mspecies/sex001
Published: 1 May 2017
KEYWORDS
Australia
carnivore
marsupial
predator
Sarcophilus
scavenger
Tasmanian devil
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