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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Tasmanian Devil

Tasmanian Devil stories: 5 news summaries

Tumor-Stricken Tasmanian Devils Now 'Endangered'

Australia ups protections for devastated, iconic species

May 22, 09 9:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Tasmanian devil, the iconic inhabitant of the island off Australia and the world’s largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, is now officially endangered, reports the BBC. Under attack by a virulent disease characterized by facial tumors, the devil population may be as low as 20,000, down 70% since the... More »

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cancer • endangered species • Australia • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania • tumor

Devils Breed Earlier to Stave Off Cancer

Attempt to outlast disease could be evolutionary

Jul 14, 08 8:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tasmanian devils are reproducing at a younger age to offset a contagious cancer epidemic, the Daily Telegraph reports. The ill-tempered marsupials, suffering from tumors that cut their lifespan in half, are now breeding at age 1 instead of 2 or 3. "We could be seeing evolution occurring before our... More »

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endangered species • evolution • Australia • breeding • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania • tumor

 Tasmania Moving Its Devils 

As cancer decimates critters, Aussies quarantine them on old prison peninsula

May 28, 08 1:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian government is stepping in to prevent the Tasmanian Devil from extinction, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the ill-tempered beasties have been dying off thanks to the world’s first contagious cancer, which they transfer by biting each other in the face. So zoologists are now working... More »

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endangered species • conservation • Australia • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania

 Cancer Can
 Be Contagious 

Tasmanian Devils transmit it by biting,
dogs with sex

Apr 6, 08 8:31 PM CDT
(Newser) - Contrary to long-held opinion, cancer can be contagious—and Darwin is to blame, a science reporter told NPR. It turns out cancer cells evolve as species do, and in some rare cases—a cancer affecting Tasmanian devils, two others in dogs and hamsters—the cancers have evolved to allow direct... More »

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cancer • Australia • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania • Charles Darwin • contagious

Tasmanian Devils Face Extinction

Iconic marsupials
hit by contagious
facial cancer

May 7, 07 8:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tasmanian Devils, the largest marsupial carnivore and the island's main tourist attraction, are threatened with extinction due to a contagious and fatal form of facial cancer spreading rapidly through the population. "Once they've got a lump, it's a one way trip,"  one expert  says. More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • Australia • disease • Tasmanian Devil • Tasmania • extinction • facial cancer • animal

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