Published December 31, 2005 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Sarcophilus harrisii Boitard 1841

Description

Sarcophilus harrisii Boitard 1841

Sarcophilus harrisii Boitard 1841, Le Jardin des Plantes: 290.

Type Locality: Tasmania.

Vernacular Names: Tasmanian Devil.

Subspecies::

Subspecies Sarcophilus harrisii subsp. harrisii Boitard 1841

Subspecies Sarcophilus harrisii subsp. dixonae Werdelin 1987

Distribution: Australia: Tasmania; known as a subfossil in S Victoria (Mt. Hamilton and Lake Corangamite).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc). Common.

Discussion: Groves (1993) called this species S. laniarius Owen, 1838, which was based on Pleistocene specimens from Wellington Caves, New South Wales. Werdelin (1987:9) argued that the Pleistocene and recent Sarcophilus were only subspecifically distinct, and as Owen’s name antedates Boitard’s (a replacement name for Didelphis ursina Harris, 1808 [preoccupied by Didelphis ursina Shaw, 1800]) by three years, laniarius must take precedence. Inspection of Werdelin (1987, Tables 1 and 2) shows, however, that recent and fossil ranges do not overlap in many variables, so they may be retained as different species. The Victorian subfossil dixonae remains as a subspecies of S. harrisii; though it is distinctive its measurements overlap with those of the living Tasmanian form.

Notes

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Dasyuromorphia, pp. 22-37 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 28, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Boitard
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Order
Dasyuromorphia
Family
Dasyuridae
Genus
Sarcophilus
Species
harrisii
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Sarcophilus harrisii Boitard, 1841 sec. Wilson & Reeder, 2005

References

  • Werdelin, L. 1987. Some observations on Sarcophilus laniarius and the evolution of Sarcophilus. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston, 90: 1 - 27.
  • Groves, C. P., and P. Grubb. 1993. The Eurasian suids: Sus and Babyrousa. Taxonomy and description. Pp. 107 - 111, in Action plan for the Suiformes (W. L. R. Oliver, ed.). I. U. C. N., Gland, Switzerland, 202 pp.
  • Shaw, G. 1800. General zoology or systematic natural history. G. Kearsley, London, 12: 1 - 330.