Australia Post Maximum Card – Tasmanian Devil
This card depicts probably one of the best known and most famous of all of Australia’s unique animals. On this card depicting Australian native fauna released by Australia Post we get another lovely bush image of the Tasmanian Devil. This one bears the $2.00 postage stamp with the picture of Cradle Mountain. Made famous in popular culture by Walt Disney cartoons this little animal has the strongest bite of any mammal on earth. A stunning maximum card with fantastic photography. Send one overseas and delight foreign friends and family. Another highly collectible maximum card from Australia Post.
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is a carnivorous marsupial now found in the wild only in the Australian islandstate of Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil is the only extant member of the genus Sarcophilus. The size of a small dog, but stocky and muscular, the Tasmanian devil is now the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world after the extinction of thethylacine in 1936. It is characterized by its black fur, pungent odour when stressed, extremely loud and disturbing screech, and ferocity when feeding. It is known to both hunt prey and scavenge carrion and although it is usually solitary, it sometimes eats with other devils. The Tasmanian devil was extirpated on the Australian mainland at least 3000 years ago, well beforeEuropean settlement in 1788. Because they were seen as a threat to livestock in Tasmania, devils were hunted until 1941, when they became officially protected. Since the late 1990s, devil facial tumour disease has reduced the devil population significantly and now threatens the survival of the species, which in May 2009 was declared to be endangered. Programs are currently being undertaken by the Government of Tasmania to reduce the impact of the disease. An analysis of mammalian bite force relative to body size shows that the devil has the strongest bite of any living mammal, over 5,100 psi (35,000 kPa).The power of the jaws is in part due to its comparatively large head. A Tasmanian devil also has one set of teeth that grows slowly throughout its life. Thee teeth and jaws of Tasmanian devils resemble those of hyenas, an example of convergent evolution.
