Petauridae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

containing 13

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

: four species of trioks and striped possum (genus ''Dactylopsila''), eight species of

wrist-winged glider The genus ''Petaurus'' () contains flying phalangers or wrist-winged gliders, a group of arboreal possums native to Australia, New Guinea, and surrounding islands. There are eight species: the sugar glider, savanna glider, Krefft's glider, sq ...

(genus ''Petaurus''), and

Leadbeater's possum Leadbeater's possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'') is a critically endangered possum largely restricted to small pockets of alpine ash, mountain ash, and snow gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbour ...

(''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri''), which has only vestigial gliding membranes. Most of the wrist-winged gliders are native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, whereas most of the striped possums to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, but some members of each group are found on both sides of the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

. Leadbeater's possum is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

Evolution

All petaurids have obvious facial markings, a well-defined dorsal stripe, very large lower front incisors, and four-cusped molars. Despite their distinctive appearance, petaurids are closely related to the

ringtail possum Pseudocheiridae is a family of arboreal marsupials containing 17 extant species of ringtailed possums and close relatives. They are found in forested areas and shrublands throughout Australia and New Guinea. Characteristics Physically, they ap ...

s (family

Pseudocheiridae Pseudocheiridae is a family of arboreal marsupials containing 17 extant species of ringtailed possums and close relatives. They are found in forested areas and shrublands throughout Australia and New Guinea. Characteristics Physically, they app ...

) and are grouped together with them to form the superfamily

Petauroidea Petauroidea is a superfamily of marsupials from Australia and New Guinea. It is part of the suborder Phalangeriformes within the order Diprotodontia, which also includes, among others, wombats, kangaroos, cuscuses. The superfamily Phalangeroidea, ...

. The wrist-winged gliders are omnivorous, specialising on sap and nectar, but taking a wide variety of supplemental foods. The gliders appears to have evolved in the open forests of Australia—gliding membranes are an adaptation which aids mobility when the forest canopy is incomplete, and are of little use in

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s— but now has representatives in New Guinea and many of the smaller islands nearby. Their similarities to the unrelated

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they ar ...

s are an example of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

. The striped possums, on the other hand, are thought to have evolved on New Guinea; the sole Australian species (the

striped possum The striped possum or common striped possum (''Dactylopsila trivirgata'') is a member of the marsupial family Petauridae. it is found mainly in New Guinea. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has whi ...

of Cape York) is considered a recent immigrant. All members of this genus are insectivores, and have specialised structures for catching insects: a heel-like structure on the wrist that is thought to be used to tap on wood to locate insect larvae, and an elongated fourth finger to extract them from their burrows.

Taxonomy

The listing for extant species is based on The Third edition of Wilson & Reeder's

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

(2005), except where th
Mammal Diversity Database
and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

agree on a change. The family consists of the following three genera and 11 species: * Genus ''

Dactylopsila ''Dactylopsila'' is a genus of marsupial in the family Petauridae. Species The genus includes the following four species: * Great-tailed triok, ''Dactylopsila megalura'' * Long-fingered triok, ''Dactylopsila palpator'' * Tate's triok, ''Dact ...

'' **

Great-tailed triok The great-tailed triok (''Dactylopsila megalura'') is a species of marsupial in the family Petauridae. It is found in West Papua and Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), off ...

, ''Dactylopsila megalura'' **

Long-fingered triok The long-fingered triok (''Dactylopsila palpator'') is a species of marsupial in the family Petauridae. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It is known as blc in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea Papua New ...

, ''Dactylopsila palpator'' **

Tate's triok Tate's triok, also known as the Fergusson Island striped possum (''Dactylopsila tatei''), is a species of marsupial in the family Petauridae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ...

, ''Dactylopsila tatei'' **

Striped possum The striped possum or common striped possum (''Dactylopsila trivirgata'') is a member of the marsupial family Petauridae. it is found mainly in New Guinea. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has whi ...

, ''Dactylopsila trivirgata'' * Genus '' Gymnobelideus'' **

, ''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'' * Genus '' Petaurus'' **

Northern glider The northern glider (''Petaurus abidi'') is a species of marsupial in the family Petauridae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea, becoming known to science in 1981 after being discovered in the Torricelli Mountains. This species has been found i ...

, ''Petaurus abidi'' **

Yellow-bellied glider The yellow-bellied glider (''Petaurus australis''), also known as the fluffy glider, is an arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum that lives in native eucalypt forests in eastern Australia, from northern Queensland south to Victoria. Habitat ...

, ''Petaurus australis'' ** Biak glider, ''Petaurus biacensis'' **

Sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum belonging to the marsupial infraclass. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability ...

, ''Petaurus breviceps'' ** Mahogany glider, ''Petaurus gracilis'' **

Squirrel glider The squirrel glider (''Petaurus norfolcensis'') is a nocturnal gliding possum. The squirrel glider is one of the wrist-winged gliders of the genus '' Petaurus''. Habitat This species' home range extends from Bordertown near the South Australia ...

, ''Petaurus norfolcensis''

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q23288 Possums Mammal families Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte

Evolution

Taxonomy

References

Further reading

External links