Sarcophilus

Sarcophilus, from Ancient Greek σάρξ (sárx), meaning "flesh", and φίλος (phílos), meaning "loving", is a genus of carnivorous marsupial best known for its only living member, the Tasmanian devil.

Sarcophilus

Wayne McLean ( jgritz ) Taken with Nikon D100. · CC BY-SA 2.5 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
Tasmanian devilPBDB
Sits inside
DasyuriniPBDB
Diet
insectivore, carnivorePBDB, for Dasyuridae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Mammalia

Time the record covers

At least 3.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 25 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 25 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 24 of 25 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 25 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.3–2.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.1–1.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.9–1.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.8–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–1.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.4–1.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.2–972 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence194 ka–0 Mya — about 7 occurrences3.6 Mya129 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

25 occurrences of Sarcophilus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

25 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Moorna Sandstone — 34.13°S, 141.62°ENelson Bay — 38.60°S, 141.58°ED Clay — 35.70°S, 144.83°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Sarcophilus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sarcophilus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Sarcophilus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

251 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 25 sites for Sarcophilus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

22 references

Each of the 25 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 10 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Sarcophilus

Credit
Wayne McLean ( jgritz ) Taken with Nikon D100.
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDasyurini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cuvier 1837