And now the world's cutest Tasmanian devil, who nonetheless is obviously bloody from battle. Because it's been that kind of week.
Some more details about Tassies...
Species name: Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)
Where found: Tasmania, an island state of Australia
IUCN Red List status:Endangered (although that was the 2008 assessment; things have gotten worse since then)
Major threat: A communicable cancer called Devil Facial Tumor Disease which has wiped out tens of thousands of animals
Previous Extinction Countdown articles about this species: Many. I've been covering DFTD for years. Tragically, I don't see things getting much better for this species any time soon.
Photo by Scott MacLeod Liddle via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
John R. Platt is the editor of The Revelator. An award-winning environmental journalist, his work has appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, Motherboard, and numerous other magazines and publications. His "Extinction Countdown" column has run continuously since 2004 and has covered news and science related to more than 1,000 endangered species. John lives on the outskirts of Portland, Ore., where he finds himself surrounded by animals and cartoonists. Follow John R. Platt on Twitter
