The Tasmanian Devil in Arnhem Land Rock Art

Abstract

In separate papers in 1972, Brandl and Wright published motifs from Aboriginal rock art which they claimed were representations of the thylacine ( Thylacinus cynocephalus ), an animal believed extinct on mainland Australia for at least 3000 years (Milham and Thompson 1976). The existence of apparent thylacine depictions led McCarthy to suspect that another animal extinct on the mainland, the Tasmanian Devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii ), might also be found in Aboriginal rock art. Accordingly, in 1976, he published reproductions of several paintings which he suggested were representations of Sarcophilus . Calaby and Lewis (1977) disagreed with McCarthy's identifications. They presented examples from Arnhem Land rock art which, in their opinion, more closely resembled the Tasmanian devil than did McCarthy's figures. Although conclusive depictions of the thylacine have since been discovered (see Lewis 1977), the paintings claimed to be representations of Sarcophilus remain open to doubt.