''Sarcophilus laniarius'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of large

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') ( palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales ...

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Ow ...

originally called the specimen on which the genus was based ''Dasyurus laniarus''. Pleistocene fossil deposits in limestone caves at Naracoorte, South Australia include specimens of ''S. laniarius'', which were around 15% larger and 50% heavier than modern devils.Owen and Pemberton, p. 35. Older specimens believed to be 50–70,000 years old were found in

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

and in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It is not clear whether the modern devil evolved from ''S. laniarius'', or whether they coexisted at the time.Owen and Pemberton, p. 36. Richard Owen argued for the latter hypothesis in the 19th century based on fossils found in 1877 in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It has been conjectured that ''S. laniarius'' and ''S. moornaensis'', another now-extinct larger species, may have hunted and scavenged. It is known that there were several genera and species of thylacine millions of years ago, and that they ranged in size, the smaller being more reliant on foraging.Owen and Pemberton, p. 37. As the devil and thylacine are similar, the extinction of the co-existing thylacine species has been cited as evidence for an analogous history for the devils.Owen and Pemberton, p. 38. It has been speculated that the smaller size of ''S. laniarius'' and ''S. moornaensis'' allowed them to adapt to the changing conditions more effectively and survive longer than the corresponding thylacines. As the extinction of these two species came at a similar time to human habitation of Australia, hunting by humans, as well as land clearing, have been mooted as possible causes.Owen and Pemberton, p. 39. Critics of this theory point out that as indigenous Australians only developed

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...

s and spears for hunting around 10,000 years ago, a critical fall in numbers due to systemic hunting is unlikely. They also point out that caves inhabited by Aboriginal people have a low proportion of bones and rock paintings of devils, and that this is an indication that it was not a large part of indigenous lifestyle. A scientific report in 1910 claimed that Aboriginal people preferred the meat of herbivores rather than carnivores.Owen and Pemberton, pp. 40–42. The other main theory for the extinction was due to the climate change brought on by the most recent Ice Age.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q194609 Prehistoric dasyuromorphs Prehistoric mammals of Australia Pleistocene marsupials Taxa named by Richard Owen Fossil taxa described in 1838