First Record of Tasmanian Devils in the Pilbara: Late Quaternary Subfossils From Juukan Gorge, Puutu Kunti Kurrama Country, and Insights Into Human—Faunal Relationships and Extinction

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study presents the first unequivocal evidence for the presence of Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia, based on material recovered from archaeological excavations at Juukan Gorge on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura country. Two diagnostic specimens are reported: a right dentary fragment preserving the first and second lower molars from Holocene sediments, and an incomplete lower first or second premolar from pre‐LGM Late Pleistocene sediments. In addition, numerous devil‐derived trace fossils, including chewed and digested bone fragments, occur throughout the sequence, indicating sustained interaction with humans over at least 45,000 years. These findings demonstrate that devils occupied arid inland Australia until their mainland extinction ∼3200 years ago. The consistent occurrence of bone modified by devil scavenging of human butchery waste suggests that devils relied, at least in part, on anthropogenic resources from the time of human arrival in the Pilbara. This prolonged association highlights a closer ecological relationship between humans and devils than previously recognised, a relationship likely disrupted following the introduction of dingoes, contributing to the species’ mainland extinction.