Sarcophilus fossil map
Where fossils of Sarcophilus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 5.333 million years ago to the present (Zanclean to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Dasyuridae |
| Named by | Cuvier 1837 |
| Fossil records | 50 occurrences at 20 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Australia |
| Rock formations | txn:40086, Moorna Sandstone, Nelson Bay, D Clay |
About 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.
There are four species of Sarcophilus. S. laniarius and S. moornaensis are only known from fossils from the Pleistocene. S. laniarius was larger than the contemporary, and only surviving, species S. harrisii, weighing up to 10 kilograms more. The relationship between the four 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.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Sarcophilus (revision 1280857668), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q937821.
