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Seven Levels of Classification for Tasmanian Devil

The striking Tasmanian devil may be best-known as a hyperactive cartoon character, but the real flesh-and-blood animal represents the biggest living marsupial carnivore in its native Tasmania. The name stems from the otherworldly screeching that accompanies their squabbling over food, as well as ears that turn red with agitation. Of conservation concern due to their limited remaining habitat and small gene pool, Tasmanian devils serve as ecologically important apex predators.

Taxonomy
- Tasmanian devils belong to the kingdom Animalia, distinct from organisms like plants, fungi and bacteria. Their phylum is Chordata and their class is Mammalia. They are a marsupial --- a member of the Metatheria or Marsupialia infraclass, distinguished from placental and monotreme mammals by their reproductive process: They give birth to highly underdeveloped young that continue to mature in a womb-like pouch. Within the marsupials they belong to the order Dasyuromorphia and family Dasyuridae, which harbor most of the living marsupial carnivores. The seventh level of classification is the genus, Sarcophilus.
The Species
- Tasmanian devils have strong jaws and large teeth for a mostly carnivorous diet.
  
  The Tasmanian devil's scientific name is Sacrophilus harrisii, and it is the only extant member of the genus. With the extinction of the thylacine --- sometimes called the Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger --- they are the largest living marsupial carnivore. A hefty male may weigh 26 pounds. They are stocky, short-tailed and heavy-headed, with massive jaws and prominent teeth. Devils are characteristically black with white mottles on the chest and rump, though some animals are all-black. Once found on the Australian mainland, they are now restricted to the island of Tasmania, where they particularly favor coastal heath and eucalyptus woodlands. Relishing carrion, they will usurp or scavenge the kills of other predators, though they will also actively hunt animals like wombats, wallabies and birds.
Relatives
- Relatives of the Tasmanian devil in the family Dasyuridae include the several species of quoll, such as the second-largest surviving marsupial carnivore, the spotted-tail tiger quoll. This thick-jawed hunter has a long tail and a semi-arboreal nature, and sometimes squares off with the devil over kills. The thylacine, which belonged to the same order as the Tasmanian devil, was substantially larger than the devil, about the size of a large dog (weighing more than 60 pounds in some cases). Capable of coursing prey as large as kangaroos, thylacines were driven to extinction in the early 20th century due to concerns over their perceived threat to livestock. Some cling to hopes that a relict population exists in some remote corner of Tasmania.
Placental Analogues
- The wolverine of North America and Eurasia is a heftier placental analogue of the devil.
  
  Many marsupials have analogues in the world of placental mammals --- unrelated species that, due to a similar ecological niche, have evolved a similar body form and behavior. For the Tasmanian devil, such a counterpart might be a large tenacious weasel like the African ratel or the wolverine of the temperate and subarctic zones. While larger, Old World hyenas are, like the devil, possessed of powerful, bone-breaking jaws and dual roles as scavengers and active predators.

Animals & Science