Dasyuromorphia

Dasyuromorphia is an order of Australasian marsupials that includes quolls, Tasmanian devils, numbats, and the extinct thylacine. Its living members are predominantly carnivorous, though the numbat specializes in eating termites.

Marsupial: A mammal whose young are born at an early stage of development and usually continue developing while attached to a teat. Dasyuromorphs belong to this mammalian lineage, although their pouch development varies.
Carnivory: A feeding strategy in which animals obtain most of their food by eating other animals. Many dasyuromorphs hunt invertebrates or vertebrates, despite the order's dietary exceptions.
Australidelphia: A major marsupial lineage that includes most living Australasian marsupials and some South American relatives. Dasyuromorphia is nested within this broader marsupial radiation.
Thylacine extinction: The disappearance of the thylacine, culminating with the death of the last known captive animal in 1936. Its loss removed one of the order's most distinctive predators.
Monotreme: A mammal that lays eggs, represented today by the platypus and echidnas. Monotremes are another distinctive Australasian mammal lineage, but are not marsupials.
Dasyuridae: A family of mostly carnivorous marsupials that includes quolls, dunnarts, and the Tasmanian devil. This is the largest living family within Dasyuromorphia.
Numbat: A small diurnal marsupial from southwestern Australia that feeds almost entirely on termites. Its specialized diet distinguishes it from the order's predominantly predatory members.
Australian marsupial lion: An extinct, large-bodied Australian marsupial predator from the Pleistocene. Its fossils provide a comparison for the diverse extinct predators that shared ancient Australia with dasyuromorphs.
Devil facial tumour disease: A transmissible cancer that has caused severe population declines in Tasmanian devils. This disease threatens the largest surviving dasyuromorph and has prompted major conservation efforts.
Placental mammal: A mammal whose fetus develops within the uterus and receives sustained nourishment through a placenta. Placental mammals differ from marsupials in reproductive development and include many ecological counterparts.

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DunnartNarrower topic: Dunnarts sit within this order of predominantly meat-eating marsupials.