This document provides information about Tasmanian devils through a classification of the species and descriptions of their physical appearance, habitat, life cycle, diet, predators, role in the environment, threats from humans, and some interesting facts. Tasmanian devils are small, carnivorous marsupials that are black and white with large jaws and live mainly in Tasmania, where they eat small mammals, birds, and carrion and play an important role in controlling populations of other small mammals. Their habitats and numbers are threatened by shrinking habitat and vehicle collisions as humans encroach on their environment.

1. Tasmanian Devils
Sarcophilus Harrisii
By Kaitlyn Moffat
Grade 6
Fessenden School

2. Scientific Classification
• Kingdom- Animalia
• Phylum- Chordata
• Class- Mammalia
• Infraclass- Marsupialia
• Order- Dasyuromorphia
• Family- Dasyurinde
• Subfamily- Dasyurinde
• Tribe- Dasyurini
• Genus- Sarcophilus
• Species- S. Harrisii

3. Appearance
• black and white
• small as a terrier dog
• solid “snout”
• weighs 6-8 kg
• tail is 9-12 in long
• large powerful jaws

4. Habitat
• lives in Tasmania
• they like to live in rainforests
• forests
• logs
• old wombat burrows
• caves

5. Life Cycle
• babies are called “ joeys”
• reproduce just one year at a time
• mate in March
• give birth in April
• the birth can be extended over seven
months

6. Diet
• they are carnivores
• what ever is available
• wallabies
• small mammals
• birds
• reptiles
• amphibians
• insects
• sea squirts
• sheep
• cattle

7. Predators
• humans
• use to be the Tasmanian tigers but they
are extinct

8. How they help the
environment
• they eat little mammals
• in Tasmania they have lots little
mammals
• so they eat them and now there aren’t
as much mammals any more

9. How humans harm Tasmanian
Devils
• humans move to Tasmania
• the habitats are shrinking
• humans cause danger to Tasmanian
Devils by running them over with cars

10. What can be done
• stop taking away their homes
• stop moving to the rainforests and
forests in Tasmania

11. Other interesting facts
• devils are 30cm tall
• grow about 50 cm long
• can walk 16km with out stopping
• more then 50 devils die each year
because of cars
• they can only see black and white
• Tasmanian devils are nocturnal

12. References
Websites:
• Wikipedia.com
• Answer.com
• Google.com
Books:
• Animal by David Burniet and Don E.
Wilson