Endangered Tasmanian Devils Must Evolve to Survive

Though a funny cartoon, the real-life Tasmanian devil is not renowned for exchanging pleasantries when it meets another fellow beast. This is one of the reasons why it's now nearing extinction, and only an evolution out of its old ways may save it.

University of Tasmania expert Dr. Rodrigo Hamede says that the fatal cancer which currently infects most of the population, called Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD), is generally transmitted through bites. He adds that most devils bite each other, since they are extremely aggressive.

Interestingly, the more aggressive devils were more likely to fall prey to the cancer. While they did not get bitten as much, they did attack their weaker opponents with more ferociousness, and chewed on their tumors, thereby signing their own death certificate, so to speak.

“We found the more aggressive devils, rather than being super-spreaders, are super-receivers,” says Hamede, quoted by Science Blog.