24 Facts About Tasmanian devil

Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae.

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.

The Tasmanian devil is an iconic symbol of Tasmania and many organisations, groups and products associated with the state use the animal in their logos.

Tasmanian devil had earlier made a presentation on the topic at the Zoological Society of London.

The modern Tasmanian devil was named Sarcophilus harrisii by French naturalist Pierre Boitard in 1841.

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Later revision of the Tasmanian devil's taxonomy, published in 1987, attempted to change the species name to Sarcophilus laniarius based on mainland fossil records of only a few animals.

The specific lineage of the Tasmanian devil is theorised to have emerged during the Miocene, molecular evidence suggesting a split from the ancestors of quolls between 10 and 15 million years ago, when severe climate change came to bear in Australia, transforming the climate from warm and moist to an arid, dry ice age, resulting in mass extinctions.

Tasmanian devil's genome was sequenced in 2010 by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Possibly the longest-lived Tasmanian devil recorded was Coolah, a male devil which lived in captivity for more than seven years.

The Tasmanian devil has long claws that allow it to dig burrows and seek subterranean food easily and grip prey or mates strongly.

Tasmanian devil is a keystone species in the ecosystem of Tasmania.

In terms of its body mass, the Tasmanian devil eats only a quarter of the eastern quoll's intake, allowing it to survive longer during food shortages.

Diet of a Tasmanian devil can vary substantially for males and females, and seasonally, according to studies at Cradle Mountain.

Digestion is very fast in dasyurids and, for the Tasmanian devil, the few hours taken for food to pass through the small gut is a long period in comparison to some other dasyuridae.

The Tasmanian devil's population has been calculated in 2008 by Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries and Water as being in the range of 10,000 to 100,000 individuals, with 20,000 to 50,000 mature individuals being likely.

Species was listed as vulnerable under the Tasmanian devil Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 in 2005 and the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in 2006, which means that it is at risk of extinction in the "medium term".

Wild Tasmanian devil populations are being monitored to track the spread of the disease and to identify changes in disease prevalence.

Archaeologist Josephine Flood believes the Tasmanian devil was hunted for its teeth and that this contributed to its extinction on mainland Australia.

Middens that contain Tasmanian devil bones are rare—two notable examples are Devil's Lair in the south-western part of Western Australia and Tower Hill in Victoria.

However, the Tasmanian devil was still negatively depicted, including in tourism material.

In October 2005 the Tasmanian government sent four devils, two male and two female, to the Copenhagen Zoo, following the birth of the first son of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and his Tasmanian-born wife Mary.

In 1997, a Tasmanian devil turned up in Western Australia; it had not escaped from any licensed keeper.

The Tasmanian devil has appeared on several commemorative coins in Australia over the years.

Tasmanian devil is probably best known internationally as the inspiration for the Looney Tunes cartoon character the Tasmanian Devil, or "Taz" in 1954.