Sarcophilus laniarius laniarius (Owen in Mitchell, 1838:363)
Great Tasmanian devil
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Dasyurus laniarius Owen in Mitchell, 1838:363 (basionym; Stephenson, 1963:618); Sarcophilus laniaris (Owen in Mitchell, 1838:363) [orth. error used by (Lundelius & Turnbull, 1978:81)]
Originally described as Dasyurus laniarius (Owen, 1838), it was recombined as Sarcophilus laniarius by (Owen, 1877; [Lydekker, 1887?]; Lydekker, 1894).
Conservation Status
Extinct or invalid (synonym)
Distribution
Australia
"The range has recently been extended to the Northern Territory by part of a jawbone found west of Oenpelli, just across the East Alligator River."
(Troughton, 1973:43)
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
A C1 (accession # QMF44640) excavated from Darling Downs, southeastern Queensland, may represent either this species or the living S. harrisii (Price & Sobbe, 2005).
USNM 8665
USNM 173904
F31045 (Dawson, 1985:65)
UCMP45184 (Dawson, 1985:65)
UCMP45182 (Dawson, 1985:65)
BMNH 42555 (Stephenson, 1963:618)
BMNH 42559 (Stephenson, 1963:618)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Owen, Richard (1838). Letter in: Mitchell, Thomas L. Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. Vol. 1. London: T. & W. Boone, 343 pp.
Other references:
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Bartholomai, Alan. (1977). The fossil vertebrate fauna from Pleistocene deposits at Cement Mills, Gore, Southeastern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 18(1): 41-51.
Baynes, A. and Walshe, K. (1994). Preliminary analysis of mammals from Aliens Cave, southern Nullarbor. Abstracts of the fourth conference on Australian vertebrate evolution, palaeontology and systematics, Adelaide, 19-21 April, 1993. Records of the South Australian Museum 1994. [Abstract]
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Calaby, John Henry and Lewis, D.J. (1977). The Tasmanian devil in Arnhem Land rock art. Mankind 11(2): 150–51.
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