The Devil Is in the Detail: Tasmanian Devil and Tasmanian Tiger Paintings From Awunbarna and Injalak Hill, Northern Territory, Australia

Abstract

Both the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) and the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) are believed to have become extinct on the Australian mainland about 3000 years ago. However, until now there were only 23 known rock art depictions of the Tasmanian devil and about 150 Tasmanian tiger paintings and petroglyphs, mostly at rock art sites in northern Australia. In this article, we report recently documented images of these species from two locations in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, including two previously undescribed Tasmanian devil paintings in different styles and several thylacines. We then consider reasons why there are so many more depictions of Tasmanian tigers than devils in Australian rock art and whether either species became extinct in Arnhem Land more recently than previously thought.