It is hard to guess what a Sarcophilus laniarius weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Sarcophilus laniarius (Sarcophilus laniarius) on average weights 8.35 kg (18.41 lbs).
The Sarcophilus laniarius is from the family Dasyuridae (genus: Sarcophilus). They can live for up to 8.17 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 55.8 cm (1′ 10″). On average, Sarcophilus laniariuss can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 2.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
Sarcophilus laniarius is an extinct species of large Tasmanian devil. Richard Owen originally called the specimen on which the genus was based Dasyurus laniarus.Pleistocene fossil deposits in limestone caves at Naracoorte, South Australia include specimens of S. laniarius, which were around 15% larger and 50% heavier than modern devils. Older specimens believed to be 50–70,000 years old were found in Darling Downs in Queensland and in Western Australia. It is not clear whether the modern devil evolved from S. laniarius, or whether they coexisted at the time. Richard Owen argued for the latter hypothesis in the 19th century based on fossils found in 1877 in New South Wales. It has been conjectured that S. laniarius and S. moornaensis, another now-extinct larger species, may have hunted and scavenged. It is known that there were several genera and species of thylacine millions of years ago, and that they ranged in size, the smaller being more reliant on foraging. As the devil and thylacine are similar, the extinction of the co-existing thylacine species has been cited as evidence for an analogous history for the devils. It has been speculated that the smaller size of S. laniarius and S. moornaensis allowed them to adapt to the changing conditions more effectively and survive longer than the corresponding thylacines.As the extinction of these two species came at a similar time to human habitation of Australia, hunting by humans, as well as land clearing, have been mooted as possible causes. Critics of this theory point out that as indigenous Australians only developed boomerangs and spears for hunting around 10,000 years ago, a critical fall in numbers due to systemic hunting is unlikely. They also point out that caves inhabited by Aborigines have a low proportion of bones and rock paintings of devils, and that this is an indication that it was not a large part of indigenous lifestyle. A scientific report in 1910 claimed that Aborigines preferred the meat of herbivores rather than carnivores. The other main theory for the extinction was due to the climate change brought on by the most recent Ice Age.
Animals of the same family as a Sarcophilus laniarius
We found other animals of the Dasyuridae family:
- Cinnamon antechinus with a weight of 71 grams
- Dusky antechinus with a weight of 62 grams
- Parantechinus bilarni with a weight of 23 grams
- Yellow-footed antechinus with a weight of 44 grams
- Chestnut dunnart with a weight of 16 grams
- Carpentarian dunnart with a weight of 25 grams
- Habbema dasyure with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Broad-striped dasyure with a weight of 54 grams
- Short-furred dasyure with a weight of 161 grams
- Sminthopsis laniger with a weight of 26 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Sarcophilus laniarius
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Sarcophilus laniarius:
- Eurasian otter with a weight of 8.86 kilos (19.53 lbs)
- Tonkin snub-nosed monkey with a weight of 9.12 kilos (20.11 lbs)
- Andean mountain cat with a weight of 8.13 kilos (17.92 lbs)
- Assam macaque with a weight of 8.55 kilos (18.85 lbs)
- Honey badger with a weight of 9 kilos (19.84 lbs)
- Pig-tailed langur with a weight of 7.39 kilos (16.29 lbs)
- Ursine colobus with a weight of 7.7 kilos (16.98 lbs)
- White-bellied spider monkey with a weight of 6.71 kilos (14.79 lbs)
- Greater long-nosed armadillo with a weight of 9.7 kilos (21.38 lbs)
- Jaguarundi with a weight of 6.88 kilos (15.17 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Sarcophilus laniarius
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Sarcophilus laniarius:
- Asian small-clawed otter with a size of 51.6 cm (1′ 9″)
- South American gray fox with a size of 51.9 cm (1′ 9″)
- Kinkajou with a size of 51 cm (1′ 9″)
- Common spotted cuscus with a size of 45.8 cm (1′ 7″)
- Sable with a size of 45.1 cm (1′ 6″)
- Angola colobus with a size of 56.5 cm (1′ 11″)
- Celebes crested macaque with a size of 54.9 cm (1′ 10″)
- Brown howler with a size of 51.5 cm (1′ 9″)
- Black-and-white ruffed lemur with a size of 54.7 cm (1′ 10″)
- Pallas’s cat with a size of 57.3 cm (1′ 11″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Sarcophilus laniarius
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Sarcophilus laniarius:
- American pika
- Iberian lynx
- True’s vole
- Geoffroy’s tamarin
- African golden cat
- Bushy-tailed jird
- Gray-bellied tree mouse
- Pipistrellus mimus
- Giant otter shrew
- Molina’s hog-nosed skunk
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Sarcophilus laniarius
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Sarcophilus laniarius:
- Yuma myotis with an average maximal age of 8.75 years
- San Diego pocket mouse with an average maximal age of 8.25 years
- Townsend’s chipmunk with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Long-tailed weasel with an average maximal age of 7.08 years
- Black-shouldered opossum with an average maximal age of 7.83 years
- Long-eared hedgehog with an average maximal age of 6.75 years
- Congo rope squirrel with an average maximal age of 9.5 years
- Crowned lemur with an average maximal age of 9.17 years
- Barbary ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 9 years
- White-footed sportive lemur with an average maximal age of 8.58 years