Sarcophilus

Taxobox
name = "Sarcophilus"

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = The Tasmanian Devil is the only living species from "Sarcophilus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
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 a dwarf 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.