People sometimes wonder what is a Tasmanian devil. May be they know that it’s a mammal because it looks like one what they probably don’t know is that the Tasmanian devil is marsupial mammal. The devil belongs to the family Dasyuridae. A Dasyuridae is a marsupial family which comprises as many as 75 living species in total. Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is one of those animals that has pouch to carry babies. A pouch is a fold of skin found in females only. It has a single opening to the rear and it primarily covers the nipples. Let us explore more as to what type of animal is a Tasmanian devil.
What is a Tasmanian Devil? – What Species is a Tasmanian Devil and How it is Different from other Marsupials
Marsupial Mammal
- Tasmanian devils are marsupial mammals.
- While kangaroos have pouch that opens to the front, the devil’s pouch opens to the rear.
- The female is unable to observe her babies while they are in the pouch.
The Biggest Marsupial Carnivore
- Tasmanian devil is probably one of the few marsupials that rely on meat almost exclusively.
- They will consume small baby kangaroo alive although devils mostly feed on carcasses.
- Devils are highly specialized scavengers.
- They are the biggest of the marsupials that eat meat only.
- Devils are pretty much the vacuum cleaners of the forest as they consume just about anything of dead animal.
- Tasmanian devils are nearly the size of a small dog.
Highly Aggressive and Noisy Animal
- Devils are truly aggressive and they are also infamous for their bite.
- They aren’t really threatening to humans.
- They have got the strongest of the bites in respect to their overall size.
- Their keen sense of smell makes them even more threatening to animals the size of their own.
- Tasmanian devils are short-tempered noisy animals. They will often utter loud screeching sounds and if you hold them with their tail they’ll probably behave like an irritating crying baby.
What is a Tasmanian Devil – What Species is a Tasmanian Devil
Article Cited:
Di Silvestro, Roger (1 December 2008). “My, What a Big Bite You Have”. National Wildlife Federation. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
Fisher, Diana O.; Owens, Ian P. F.; Johnson, Christopher N. (2001). “The ecological basis of life history variation in marsupials”. Ecology. 82 (12): 3531–40. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2001)082[3531:TEBOLH]2.0.CO;2.
