- Sarcophilus
image_width = 250px
image_caption = TheTasmanian Devil is the only living species from "Sarcophilus"
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
infraclassis =Marsupialia
ordo =Dasyuromorphia
familia =Dasyuridae
subfamilia =Dasyurinae
tribus =Dasyurini
genus = "Sarcophilus"
genus_authority = F.G. Cuvier, 1837
subdivision_ranks= Species
subdivision =
*"S. harrisii"
*†"S. laniarius"
*†"S. moornaensis"
type_species = "Sarcophilus laniarius"
type_species_authority = Owen, 1838"Sarcophilus" is a genus of carnivorous marsupial best known for its only living member, the
Tasmanian Devil .There are three species of "Sarcophilus". "S. laniarius" and "S. moornaensis" are only known from fossils from the
Pleistocene . "S. laniarius" was larger than the contemporary species "S. harrisii", weighing up to 10 kilograms more. The relationship between the three species is unclear; while some have proposed that "S. harrisii" may be adwarf version of "S. laniarius", others argue that it is a completely different species and that the two may have coexisted during the Pleistocene.References
*Long, J., Archer, M., Flannery, T. and Hand, S. 2002. "Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution". John Hopkins University Press. pp 55. ISBN 0801872235.
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