(CNN)-- Australia's iconic Tasmanian devil -- widely known as trouble in Looney Tunes cartoons -- has been put on the country's endangered list, environmental officials announced Friday.

"Ugly" and "murderous" are two of many uncomplimentary epithets often hurled at the spaniel-size Tasmanian devil—and that's not even mentioning their unpleasantly ever-present cartoon caricature ...

Tasmanian devils are named for their chilling nocturnal shrieks, which reminded early colonists of hellhounds. Perhaps more than any other sound, the screams give a lone bush walker “this ...