Possums and Gliders
This collection of marsupials includes 26 animals from six different Families. All are arboreal and have adaptations for this lifestyle.
FEATURES
  • agile climbers
  • mostly nocturnal
DIET
  • members of each Family eat some of the following :
    insects under tree bark, tree sap, nectar, honeydew, pollen, fruits, acacia gum, small animals, leaves, bird eggs

  Family Acrobatidae

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES

Feathertail Glider
  • eats insects, pollen, nectar
  • tail used as a rudder in flight, for grasping on landing
  • large serrated toe pads to cling to smooth surfaces
  • smallest gliding mammal

1

  Family Tarsipes

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES

Honey Possum

  • eats pollen, nectar
  • tail used for grasping

1

  Family Phalangeridae

Brush-tailed and scaly-tailed possums and cuscuses belong to this Family.

FEATURES
  • tail has a friction pad of naked skin on the underside for gripping branches
    forward-facing pouch
DIET
  • leaves, fruit, flowers

Within this Family there are three groupings :

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES
Brush-tailed Possums
  • feed on the ground as well as in trees
  • have a scent gland on the chest for marking
 2
Scaly-tailed Possum
  • found in the Kimberley region of WA
 1
Cuscuses
  • found in rainforest of north QLD
  • also found in New Guinea
 2

  Family Petauridae

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES

Gliding Possums
  • thin membrane of loose, fur-covered skin between wrist and ankle
  • eat insects under bark of trees, tree sap, honeydew, acacia gum, nectar, pollen, fruit

6

  Family Pseudocheiridae
FEATURES
  • tail coils around branches and has a friction pad of naked skin on the underside at the tip
  • active at night, during daytime they rest in nests, in tree hollows, on open branches, epiphytic plants
DIET
  • mainly leaves

This Family has two subdivisions :

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES
Ringtail Possums
  • builds a nest in a tree for daytime resting
 7

Greater Glider
  • gliding membrane attaches to the elbow and ankle
 1

  Family  Burramyidae

GROUPING FEATURES NUMBER
OF SPECIES
Pygmy-possums
  • opposable big toe for climbing
  • tail used for grasping
  • becomes still and torpid on cold winter days
5