How did I not know that Tasmanian Devils are under threat of extinction from "a bizarre and mysterious facial cancer that spreads like a plague"?
Source 1:
- It probably originated in the 1980s or early 1990s in a single animal, most likely a female.
- A nerve cell in her face underwent a drastic mutation: its chromosomes shattered and then stitched themselves back together.
- “The cell was still able to function, because there wasn’t too much DNA lost”...
- The cancer then spread to other devils by taking advantage of their behavior. The animals frequently fight, biting their opponents’ faces. During these battles, Tasmanian devils sometimes bite off bits of a tumor. The cells slip into the attacker’s own bloodstream and travel to its face. There they grow a new tumor.
- Death comes "within a few months"
Source 2:
- When the tumor disease was discovered, many scientists assumed that it was caused by a rapidly spreading virus.
- Viruses cause 15 percent of all cancers in humans and are also widespread in animals.
- But subsequent studies failed to turn up a virus [until 2010 when it was discovered to be a cancer]
- Scientists have found only one other case in which cancer cells naturally spread like parasites
- Infectious cancer poses a puzzle for biologists.
A few neat facts about the Tasmanian Devil:
- As comical as it is, the familiar Looney Tunes portrayal of a Tasmanian devil as a seething, snarling, insatiable lunatic is, at times, not all that far from the truth.
- These famously feisty mammals have a coat of coarse brown or black fur and a stocky profile that gives them the appearance of a baby bear.
- They have long front legs and shorter rear legs, giving them a lumbering, piglike gait.
- Its oversize head houses sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver, pound for pound, one of the most powerful bites of any mammal.
- Tasmanian devils are strictly carnivorous, surviving on small prey such as snakes, birds, fish, and insects and frequently feasting communally on carrion.
- They'll eat pretty much anything they can get their teeth on, and when they do find food, they are voracious, consuming everything—including hair, organs, and bones.
- Mothers give birth after about three weeks of pregnancy to 20 or 30 very tiny young. These raisin-size babies crawl up the mother's fur and into her pouch.
- However, the mother has only four nipples, so only a handful of babies survive. [!!!]
