😈Tasmanian devil
The Tasmanian devil 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 size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2008.
- Body mass
- 6.5 kg
- Body length
- 0.68 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- 418 N
- Maximum lifespan
- 13 years
Everything we know about the Tasmanian devil
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass6.5 kgCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 6.5 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length0.68 mCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Bite force418 NDetails ↓Hide ↑
Canine bite modelled by the dry-skull method (Thomason 1991) from a prepared skull; static bite at the canines, gape not stated. Not a live measurement. The skull's estimated body mass was 12.0 kg. The highest bite-force quotient of any living mammal in the sample. No bite force has ever been measured in a live Tasmanian devil.
Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation
Bite force for its size181Details ↓Hide ↑
Bite force normalised for body mass: the residual of canine bite force regressed on body mass, average across the sample set to 100. Above 100 means the animal bites harder than its size predicts. Do not cross-check against Wikipedia's BFQ table, which silently mixes this paper with Christiansen & Wroe 2007 and cites a popular-science book.
Source: Wroe, McHenry & Thomason 2005, Proc R Soc B 272:619, Table 1 · see citation
Brain mass17 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan13 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 13 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length4.67 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity2.1 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation26 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 26 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter sizeabout 3COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 3AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic levelCarnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleNocturnalCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Population density5.9 per km²COMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l6.5 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Tasmanian devil yet: shoulder height, top speed.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderDasyuromorphia
- ›familyDasyuridae
- ›genusSarcophilus
- ›speciesSarcophilus harrisii
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderDasyuromorphia
- familyDasyuridae
- genusSarcophilus
All 12 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- orderDasyuromorphia
- familyDasyuridae
- genusSarcophilus
More about the Tasmanian devil
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