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The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) (palawa kani: purinina) [3] is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae.It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now confined to the island of Tasmania.
The smallest species is the Pilbara ningaui, which is from 4.6 to 5.7 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in) in length, and weighs just 2 to 9 g (0.07 to 0.3 oz), while the largest, the Tasmanian devil, is 57 to 65 cm (22 to 26 in) long, and weighs from 6 to 8 kg (13 to 18 lb). The smaller dasyurids typically resemble shrews or mice in appearance, with long tails ...
The youngest radiocarbon dates of the thylacine in mainland Australia are around 3,500 years old, with an estimated extinction date around 3,200 years ago, synchronous with that of Tasmanian devil, and closely co-inciding with the earliest records of the dingo, as well as an intensification of human activity. [91]
The disease poses a direct threat to the survival of Tasmanian devils as a species as the disease is almost universally fatal. In the two decades since the disease was first spotted, population of Devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) declined by 80% (locally exceeding 90%), as the condition spread through virtually all of Tasmania.
Dasyuromorphia (/ d æ s i j ʊər oʊ ˈ m ɔːr f i ə /, meaning "hairy tail" [2] in Greek) is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the extinct thylacine.
Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a transmissible parasitic cancer in the Tasmanian devil. [23] Since its discovery in 1996, DFTD has spread and infected 4/5 of all Tasmanian devils and threatens them with extinction. DFTD has a near 100% fatality rate, and has killed up to 90% of Tasmanian devil populations living in some reserves. [24]
The thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, was the largest Dasyuromorphia and the last living specimen of the family Thylacinidae; however, the last known specimen died in captivity in 1936. The world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial is the Tasmanian devil ; it is the size of a small dog and hunts although it is opportunistic.
The tribe Dasyurini, to which quolls belong, also includes the Tasmanian devil, the antechinus, the kowari, and the mulgara. [11] Genetic analysis of cytochrome b DNA and 12S rRNA of the mitochondria indicates the quolls evolved and diversified in the late Miocene between 15 and 5 million years ago, a time of great diversification in marsupials ...