''Pseudocheirus'' is a genus of

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). It includes a single living species, the common ringtail possum (''Pseudocheirus peregrinus'') of Australia, as well as the fossil ''Pseudocheirus marshalli'' from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Other species have previously been included in this genus. Most other ringtails—the lemur-like ringtail (''Hemibelideus lemuroides''), the rock-haunting ringtail (''Petropseudes dahli''), and the various species of ''

Pseudochirulus Slender ringtail possum or Small ringtail possum (''Pseudochirulus''), also known as the ringtail possum, is a genus of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. ''Pseudochirulus'' l ...

'' and ''

Pseudochirops False ringtail possums (''Pseudochirops'') are members of a genus of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae Pseudocheiridae is a family of arboreal marsupials containing 17 extant species of ringtailed possums and close relatives. They are f ...

''—were classified in ''Pseudocheirus'' until the 1980s or 1990s. A second ringtail from the Victorian Pliocene, '' Petauroides stirtoni'', was originally named as a ''Pseudocheirus'', but is now considered to be more closely related to the

greater glider The greater gliders are three species of large gliding marsupials in the genus ''Petauroides'', all of which are found in eastern Australia. Until 2020 they were considered to be one species, '' Petauroides volans''. In 2020 morphological and gen ...

(''Petauroides volans'').Turnbull et al., 2003, p. 533 The genus was erected by

William Ogilby William Ogilby (1805–1873) was an Irish-born zoologist who was at the forefront of classification and naming of animal species in the 1830s and served as Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1839 to 1847. He removed to Ireland ...

in 1837, the same author later using then correcting the spelling ''Pseudochirus'' that is now regarded as a nomenclatural synonym used in error by authors such as

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

. Taxonomic opinion favours treatment of the western population, ''

Pseudocheirus peregrinus occidentalis The western ringtail possum or ngwayir refers to a species of possum, ''Pseudocheirus occidentalis'', found in a small area of Southwest Australia. They are a cat-sized marsupial with a stocky build, dark greyish-brown fur, pale underparts and ...

'', as a separate species (''Pseudocheirus occidentalis''), though the contradictory evidence from current studies have prevented this recommendation being published.

References

Literature cited

*Groves, C.P. 2005. Order Diprotodontia. Pp. 43–70 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.)
Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. *Turnbull, W.D., Lundelius, E.R., Jr. and Archer, M. 2003. Dasyurids, perameloids, phalangeroids, and vombatoids from the Early Pliocene Hamilton Fauna, Victoria, Australia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279:513–540. {{Taxonbar, from=Q209686 Possums Marsupial genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by William Ogilby