Tasmanian Devils

The Tasmanian Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is a fatal condition which causes cancers around the face and head of Tasmanian Devils. It first appears as small lesions and lumps around the animal's mouth which grow quite quickly, inhibiting the Devil's ability to feed. They slowly starve to death, whilst their their bodily functions gradually break down. It spreads from animal to animal through them biting each other, and given that this is natural behaviour for Devils, it means that the disease can quickly spread through a population.

Whilst there is no actual cure for the disease yet, scientists have identified the genetic marker that causes Tasmanian devils to be predisposed to the disease, and this will go a long way towards finding a cure. Also, scientists have recently reported promising results in cancer cures from a drug manufactured from a certain type of brushwood in the North Queensland tropical rainforests. This has worked successfully in trials on cancerous tumours in cats, dogs and horses, and as well as being hoped to be a potential cure in human cancers, it is also hoped to be able to be used against DFTD.

Yes and no: Tasmanian devils get their name from the blood-curdling screeching sounds they make when fighting over food and territory. However, it is not a high-pitched screech, but a loud, deep, throaty sound which is quite chilling in the middle of the night. Click on the related link, and the "vocalisation" to hear the sound. (The link does not always work.)

The Tasmanian Devils are strictly carnivorous, eating insects, small prey such as snakes, birds, fish and mammals up to the size of a wombat, and carrion (carcasses or dead animal bodies). The Tasmanian devil scavenges most of its food and will eat whatever is handy. They have very powerful jaws and teeth enabling them to totally devour their prey, bones, fur and all.

They are bot hunters and scavengers, and essentially opportunistic carrion eaters. They are at their most rowdy when fighting over a large carcass.

Tasmanian devils live in thick eucalyptus bushland or temperate forests in Tasmania, as long as there is sufficient undergrowth for them to hide. They can also be found in coastal heath and farmland.

The Tasmanian Devil is a carnivorous marsupial that is native to Tasmania, the island state of Australia located off the southeast coast of the continent. Fossil evidence incicates it was once found throughout the mainland of Australia. There are several theories as to its extinction from the mainland, but no definitive answer.

Tasmanian Devils live in Tasmania, the island state of Australia. Their habitat is coastal heath, open dry sclerophyll forest and mixed sclerophyll-rainforest.

There may be specimens in some zoos round the world but the animal originated in Tasmania and the Australian mainland. However, there are no longer any remaining on the mainland.

The Tasmanian devil is both a hunter and a scavenger. A nocturnal creature, it is equipped with both an acute sense of smell and keen night vision in order to detect carrion and prey. As a term it has incredibly strong jaws that can easily crush and kill.

The Tasmanian devil is predominantly black, with a white stripe across its chest.

Tasmanian devils only like water insofar as they can drink it.

A Tasmanian devil is not a rainforest animal in the conventional sense of the word. Tasmanian rainforests are cool-temperate rainforests, and while some Tasmanian devils occupy these cool rainforests, most of them are found in bushland (dry sclerophyll) and coastal heathlands.

The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial mammal that is native to Tasmania. It was once widespread on the Australian mainland, but the arrival of the Dingo and possibly climate change at the end of the last ice age, may have contributed to its extinction on the mainland.

The Tasmanian devil is only found on Australia's island state of Tasmania. It has not been known on the Australian mainland at all during the time of European settlement.

Fossil evidence of the Tasmanian devil has not been able to yield any definite dates for when this animal disappeared from Australia's mainland. Estimates vary from 600 years ago to 3000 years ago.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Subfamily: Dasyurinae
Tribe: Dasyurini
Genus: Sarcophilus
Species: S. harrisii

They are bad-tempered and cantankerous, they will bite anybody and anything that comes within range. It is not for nothing they are called 'Devils'

Tasmanian devils have a reputation for being "bad tempered and cantankerous", but this is not necessarily the case. In reality, they shun contact with other species.

Tasmanian devils bite each other when feeding. This is behaviour to assert their dominance. The males in particular will fight (and bite) during breeding season. Similarly, they will bite anything that they perceive as a predator, and this often includes humans who try to get too close.

The average life span of a Tasmanian devil is 6-8 years. They are more likely to live longer in captivity, as in the wild they are prone to being hit by cars. The Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) has also reduced the life expectancy of at least one third of wild Tasmanian devils.

A Tasmanian Devil will tackle anything up to wombat size to get a meal. Although they are perfectly capable of removing a finger with one bite, they would not hunt humans, or attack, other than in self defense.

The biggest threat to the Tasmanian Devil used to be the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Tiger, and this was only because the two species competed for food. However, since the extinction of the Thylacine, man has become a bigger predator than any other animal - man and his dogs. It is only in more recent years that the Tasmanian Devil has become protected.

The fox has reasonably recently been introduced to Tasmania, and it now poses a threat to the survival of younger Tasmanian devils as well.

An analysis of mammalian bite force relative to the body size shows that the Tasmanian Devil has the strongest bite of any living mammal (over 5,100 psi (35,000 kPa)).[8] [8] Wroe, S, McHenry, C, and Thomason, J. 2005. Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences272:619-625 PMID 15817436

Tasmanian devils are endemic to Australia. Ever since European settlement, they have only ever been found on Australia's island state of Tasmania, but fossil evidence indicates they were once found throughout the mainland.

The Tasmanian devil is a dasyurid, or carnivorous marsupial. It is a nocturnal hunter, seeking live prey which may include birds, insects and small mammals up to the size of wallabies. It also scavenges animal carcasses, particularly roadkill.

The Tasmanian devil is a solitary animal, hiding in thick scrub, caves or old wombat burrows during the day. It becomes aggressive when in competition for food.

They don't.

Tasmanian devils used to be found throughout the Australian mainland, as well as Tasmania and even New Guinea. It is thought that the arrival of the Dingo and possibly climate change at the end of the last ice age, may have contributed to its extinction on the Australian mainland. However, they have continued to exist on the island of Tasmania because Tasmania has retained the cool temperate climate thought to once be in Australia and New Guinea, and the dingo has never made it to the island.