Sarcophilus harrisii (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae)

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.