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The vertebrate animals of Tasmania (mammal, birds, reptiles, frogs and fish), are of great national and international interest and an important component of Tasmania's natural heritage. Tasmania serves as a refuge for many species which, especially over the past 200 years, have become increasingly rare or extinct across the rest of the continent, such as the bettong, eastern quoll and pademelon.

FAUNA, Tasmania
Biological classification	Common name (example)	Estimated no. of described species	Possible total no. of species(a)
Annelida	earthworms, leeches	90	150
Chelicerata	spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites	298	2,000
Chordata
- Amphibia	frogs	11	11
- Aves	birds	331	331
- Mammalia	mammals	86	86
- Pisces	fish	600	700
- Reptilia	lizards, snakes	27	27
Cnidaria	jellyfish, anemones, hydra	96	150
Crustacea	crabs, shrimps, amphipods	484	550
Echinodermata	starfish, sea urchins	125	150
Entognathous Hexapoda	small insect-like animals	92	400
Mollusca	shellfish, snails, squid	1,400	1,500
Myriapoda	centipedes, millipedes	46	170
Nematoda	roundworms	120	12,000
Nematomorpha	hair worms	2	2
Onycophora	velvet worms	9	15
Platyhelminthes	flat worms	81	14,000
Porifera	sponges	440	1,000
Rotifera	rotifers (freshwater microfauna)	133	1,000
Uniramia	insects	7,641	14,500
(a) Estimating the possible total number of species is difficult, and in most cases should only be considered speculative. Source: State of the Environment Tasmania, Volume 1, 1996.