Tasmanian Devils wouldn't normally be thought of as picky eaters, but a new study by the University of New South Wales has shown just that and thrown up some surprises for good measure.
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The devils seem to be the only known scavengers in the world with decidedly picky diets.
It would seem from the new study that rather than eat whatever they can get their mitts on, Tasmanian Devils have specific tastes and preferences.
UNSW professor and senior author of the study Tracey Rogers said the devils had "broken the laws of scavenging".
"It's a scavenger's job to just be a generalist and take whatever it can find," Ms Rogers said.
"We've found that most Tasmanian devils are actually picky and selective eaters."
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Ms Rodgers said the devils are only competing with themselves for food generally in Tasmania, unlike other parts of the world.
"If you're a scavenger in Africa, then you're competing with all these other predators for food," she said.
"In Tasmania, there aren't any other predators around or competition for carcasses. Their main competition is just with each other."
The study was published this week in Ecology & Evolution, and analysed the eating habits of 71 devils captured across seven different sites across Tasmania.
The eating habits were tracked by analysing a small whisker sample from each devil. Each bristle holds chemical imprints from food they've eaten in the past.
UNSW Science PhD candidate, a researcher at The Carnivore Conservancy and lead author of the study Anna Lewis said she was surprised by the findings.
"We were surprised the devils didn't want to all eat the same thing," Ms Lewis said.
"Most of them just decided, 'No, this is my favourite food.' There are no other scavengers in the world that we know of who do this."
The research for the study found that only one in 10 devils had a broad diet made up of any foods they could find. The majority of the devils tended to eat their favourite foods - whether it be wallabies, possums or rosellas.
Ms Lewis said the findings had made her rethink what she knew about scavengers.
"This definitely seems to be a devil-specific habit," she said. "Devils are actually really easy to work with, which I was surprised about when I first became a volunteer in training.
