<P> It is believed that ancient marsupials migrated from what is now South America to Australia tens of millions of years ago during the time of Gondwana , and that they evolved as Australia became more arid . Fossils of species similar to modern devils have been found , but it is not known whether they were ancestors of the contemporary species , or whether the current devils co-existed with these species . The date that the Tasmanian devil became locally extinct from the Australian mainland is unclear ; most evidence suggests they had contracted to three relict populations around 3000 years ago . A tooth found in Augusta , Western Australia has been dated to 430 years ago , but archaeologist Oliver Brown disputes this and considers the devil 's mainland extinction to have occurred around 3000 years ago . </P>
<P> It is believed that ancient marsupials migrated from what is now South America to Australia tens of millions of years ago during the time of Gondwana , and that they evolved as Australia became more arid . Fossils of species similar to modern devils have been found , but it is not known whether they were ancestors of the contemporary species , or whether the current devils co-existed with these species . The date that the Tasmanian devil became locally extinct from the Australian mainland is unclear ; most evidence suggests they had contracted to three relict populations around 3000 years ago . A tooth found in Augusta , Western Australia has been dated to 430 years ago , but archaeologist Oliver Brown disputes this and considers the devil 's mainland extinction to have occurred around 3000 years ago . </P>
when did tasmanian devils go extinct on the mainland
when did tasmanian devils go extinct on the mainland
around 3000 years ago
around 3000 years ago