# Sarcophilus
**Sarcophilus** F. G. Cuvier, 1837 is a genus of carnivorous marsupials in the family [Dasyuridae](https://www.edgepedia.org/dasyuridae) that contains a single living species, the [Tasmanian devil](https://www.edgepedia.org/tasmanian-devil) (*Sarcophilus harrisii*). The genus name comes from the Greek *sarx* (flesh) and *philos* (loving), and the species epithet honors [George Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-harris), the surveyor and naturalist who first described the animal in 1808.[1](https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/tasmaniandevil/taxonomy) The common name Tasmanian devil was given by early European settlers in Tasmania, apparently after hearing the animal's nocturnal cries.[1](https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/tasmaniandevil/taxonomy)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Taxonomy | Genus *Sarcophilus* F. G. Cuvier, 1837; family Dasyuridae, subfamily Dasyurinae, tribe Dasyurini; monotypic, with *S. harrisii* (Boitard, 1841) the only living species[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) • [3](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552417) |
| Size | Largest living carnivorous marsupial; adults over 5 kg, with males averaging about 9 kg and females about 7 kg[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) • [4](https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.23612) |
| Distribution | Restricted to Tasmania in recent times; extinct on the Australian mainland between 3,200 and 3,500 years ago[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) • [5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) |
| Closest relatives | Within Dasyurini, *Dasyurus* (quolls) is monophyletic and sister to *Sarcophilus*[6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5715987/) |
| Conservation | Listed as Endangered by the IUCN; devil facial tumor disease, first detected in 1996, has caused local declines of up to 80%[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) • [7](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/pages/7a040d4b-639b-4d66-af90-3ecdeec76a99/files/sarcophilus-harrisii-conservation.pdf) |
| Diet | Almost entirely whole animal food including fur, feather, and bone; scat analysis found remains of birds (50%), wallaby or pademelon (36%), and possums (30%)[8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false) |
## Taxonomy and nomenclature
The genus was established by Frédéric Cuvier in 1837, with the type species *Didelphis ursina* Harris, 1808 by monotypy. Synonyms include *Diabolus* J. E. Gray, 1841 and *Ursinus* Boitard, 1842. The accepted name for the living species is *Sarcophilus harrisii* (Boitard, 1841), whose basionym is *Ursinus harrisii* Boitard, 1841; *Sarcophilus laniarius* (Owen, 1838), based on a [Pleistocene](https://www.edgepedia.org/pleistocene) fossil form from Wellington Valley, New South Wales, is treated as a heterotypic synonym.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) • [9](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=9305&mode=Info) The taxonomy of [Quaternary](https://www.edgepedia.org/quaternary) fossil devils has been disputed, with some authors recognizing only one species, *Sarcophilus harrisii* (= *S. laniarius* of Werdelin, 1987), while others separate them.[10](https://profmarkcollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Westaway-et-al.-2019-Biological-Conservation.pdf) Besides the living species, two fossil species, *S. laniarius* and *S. moornaensis*, are known from the Australian mainland.[11](https://nre.tas.gov.au/documents/draft-tasmanian-devil-recovery-plan.pdf)
**Phylogenetic position.** *Sarcophilus* sits within the tribe Dasyurini of the Dasyuridae. Total-evidence phylogenetic analyses find *Dasyurus* monophyletic and sister to *Sarcophilus*, with this clade in turn sister to *Neophascogale* + *Phascolosorex*; molecular work places the 'phascolosoricines' as sister to the *Dasyurus*–*Sarcophilus* clade.[6](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5715987/) • [12](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292123327_Molecular_systematics_of_Dasyuromorphia) One published divergence estimate places the *Dasyurus*–*Sarcophilus* split at 13.5 million years ago (95% interval 11.3–15.3).[13](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284113461_Phylogenetic_relationships_of_dasyuromorphian_marsupials_revisited) The eastern quoll (*Dasyurus viverrinus*) has been described as the closest relative of the devil.[11](https://nre.tas.gov.au/documents/draft-tasmanian-devil-recovery-plan.pdf)
## Form and function
Weighing more than 5 kg as adults, *Sarcophilus harrisii* stands out from other dasyurids: its fur is black, typically bearing white diamond-shaped patches on the chest, shoulder region, or rump, and it has a heavily built head and neck, a snout that is broad and short, and powerful teeth suited to crushing bone; among living dasyurids, none of these features overlap enough for misidentification.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) The dental formula is i 4/3, c 1/1, p 2/2, m 4/4, totaling 42 teeth, and the massive circular canine teeth are adapted for eating bone and perhaps grasping large prey.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) The animal is essentially a scaled-up dasyurid with a particularly enlarged head and few qualitative changes to the typical dasyurid body plan.[14](https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/66914-comparison-between-sarcophilus-and-gulo-part-2)
**Physiology.** Mean basal metabolic rate measured in thermoneutrality was 0.28 ml O₂ g⁻¹ h⁻¹, about 32.1% below values for placental mammals of comparable size and close to the mean for marsupials.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) Field metabolic rates measured with doubly labeled water were 2,591 kJ/day for a 7.9-kg summer animal and 2,890 kJ/day for a 7.1-kg winter animal, and both field metabolic rate and water flux were independent of season.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) Devils can consume food equal to as much as 40% of their body mass in a sitting.[8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false)
## Ecology and behavior
Devils are nocturnal scavengers and effective predators, feeding on carcasses of wallabies, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and, in farming areas, sheep and cattle; their jaws and teeth let them devour carcasses entirely, bones and fur included.[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) They are mostly solitary but congregate at large carcasses, where they use noise and threatening displays to assert dominance; as the largest of Tasmania's three big dasyurid carnivores, *S. harrisii* dominates at a carcass, although an adult spotted-tailed quoll can chase off a young devil.[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) • [2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359)
**Distribution and density.** Both distribution and density correlate with low-to-medium mean annual rainfall. Densities sometimes exceed 1 animal per km² in the eastern half of Tasmania, across the northern coastal region, and in a narrow strip down the west coast.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) Devils occupy home ranges of 10–20 km² that frequently overlap those of other individuals.[15](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01494.x) Fossil evidence shows the genus was once abundant on mainland Australia, with extinction there dated between 3,200 and 3,500 years ago; subfossils are also known from [Flinders Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/flinders-island).[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/)
**Reproduction.** Devils are synchronous annual breeders, mating usually in March, with most births from March to April; females produce a maximum of four young per year, each neonate attaching to one of only four teats.[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) • [15](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01494.x) Juveniles face up to 80% mortality during their first year of independent life, with males outliving females on average.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359) Before the emergence of devil facial tumor disease, females bred from 2 years of age; devils live up to 6 years in the wild.[15](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01494.x)
## Devil facial tumor disease and conservation
Since the mid-1990s, an aggressive, rapidly progressing, and fatal transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease ([DFTD](https://www.edgepedia.org/devil-facial-tumour-disease)), has caused massive population declines. The disease was first detected in 1996 in the dense populations of Tasmania's northeast coast and spread westward at about 7 km per year, producing an estimated loss of one-third to one-half of the population by the end of 2003 and perhaps 80% declines later.[8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false) It is transmitted by bites during fights over carcasses or during mating; the tumor cells are not recognized as foreign, in part because of low genetic diversity including in the major histocompatibility complex, and death usually follows within 6 months of the first symptoms.[16](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X17300900) • [8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false)
The disease has reshaped devil life histories. In disease-affected populations, females began breeding precocially at age 1 instead of 2, an increase in diseased populations averaging 16-fold; diseased females had similar litter sizes to healthy females (3.40 versus 3.42) but twice as many female pups.[8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false) An 18-year mark-recapture study on the Freycinet Peninsula found that the probability of 1-year-old females breeding did not increase between 2003 and 2021, with the proportion of precocial breeders remaining around 40%, and heavier females always more likely to breed.[17](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12092099/)
The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN.[5](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/) Conservation responses include disease-free captive insurance populations established from 2006 under the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, quarantine and biosecurity measures, monitoring, and preparatory work for island introductions.[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093691X17305307) • [7](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/pages/7a040d4b-639b-4d66-af90-3ecdeec76a99/files/sarcophilus-harrisii-conservation.pdf) Road deaths are a secondary threat.[7](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/pages/7a040d4b-639b-4d66-af90-3ecdeec76a99/files/sarcophilus-harrisii-conservation.pdf)
## Fossil record
The recent ancestry of *Sarcophilus harrisii* traces to several Pleistocene localities, the oldest from the early Pleistocene of Nelson Bay, Victoria; local faunas from 70,000 to 30,000 years ago with *Sarcophilus* fossils include Eastern Darling Downs ([Queensland](https://www.edgepedia.org/queensland)), Victoria Cave ([South Australia](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-australia)), and [Mammoth Cave](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammoth-cave) (Western Australia).[8](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false) The type specimens of the fossil subspecies *laniarius*, two broken left maxillae from Wellington Caves, were determined by Werdelin (1987a) to be 16% larger than *S. harrisii* but not sufficiently distinct for a separate species; subfossils from Mt. Hamilton, Victoria were named *S. h. dixonae* on the basis of dental and skull differences.[2](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359)
## References
1. [Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History, IELC LibGuides](https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/tasmaniandevil/taxonomy)
2. [Sarcophilus harrisii (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae), Mammalian Species 49(942)](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359)
3. [ITIS Report: Sarcophilus F. G. Cuvier, 1837, TSN 552417](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552417)
4. [Forelimb Myology of Carnivorous Marsupials, The Anatomical Record (Warburton 2017)](https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.23612)
5. [Tasmanian Devil, The Australian Museum](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil/)
6. [Total evidence phylogeny and evolutionary timescale for Australian faunivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5715987/)
7. [Conservation Advice: Sarcophilus harrisii, Australian Government DCCEEW](https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/env/pages/7a040d4b-639b-4d66-af90-3ecdeec76a99/files/sarcophilus-harrisii-conservation.pdf)
8. [Sarcophilus harrisii (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae), Mammalian Species (full text)](https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/49/942/1/3786359?login=false)
9. [NCBI Taxonomy Browser: Sarcophilus harrisii, Taxonomy ID 9305](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=9305&mode=Info)
10. [Westaway et al. 2019, Biological Conservation 232: 187–193](https://profmarkcollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Westaway-et-al.-2019-Biological-Conservation.pdf)
11. [Draft Tasmanian Devil Recovery Plan, NRE Tasmania](https://nre.tas.gov.au/documents/draft-tasmanian-devil-recovery-plan.pdf)
12. [Molecular systematics of Dasyuromorphia](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292123327_Molecular_systematics_of_Dasyuromorphia)
13. [Phylogenetic relationships of dasyuromorphian marsupials revisited, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284113461_Phylogenetic_relationships_of_dasyuromorphian_marsupials_revisited)
14. [Comparison between Sarcophilus and Gulo, part 2, iNaturalist journal](https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/milewski/66914-comparison-between-sarcophilus-and-gulo-part-2)
15. [Lachish, McCallum & Jones 2009, Demography, disease and the devil, Journal of Animal Ecology 78: 427–436](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01494.x)
16. [Seasonality and breeding success of captive and wild Tasmanian devils, Theriogenology](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X17300900)
17. [Strickland et al. 2025, Life-history trade-offs and reproductive strategies in Tasmanian devils, Proceedings of the Royal Society B 292](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12092099/)
18. [Effects of deslorelin implants on reproduction and feeding behavior in Tasmanian devils, Theriogenology](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0093691X17305307)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Vertebrates › Mammals › Monotremes and marsupials*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license