Petauridae
Encyclopedia
The family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Petauridae includes 11 medium-sized possum
Possum
A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

: four striped possum
Striped Possum
The Striped Possum is a member of the Petauridae family, one of the marsupial families. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has white stripes that form a 'Y' shape...

s, the six species wrist-winged gliders in genus Petaurus, and Leadbeater's Possum
Leadbeater's Possum
Leadbeater's Possum is an endangered possum restricted to small pockets of remaining old growth mountain ash forests in the central highlands of Victoria north-east of Melbourne...

 which has only vestigal gliding membranes. Most of the wrist-winged gliders are native to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, most of the striped possums (genus Dactylopsila
Dactylopsila
Dactylopsila is a genus of marsupial in the Petauridae family.It contains the following species:*Great-tailed Triok, Dactylopsila megalura*Long-fingered Triok, Dactylopsila palpator*Tate's Triok, Dactylopsila tatei...

) to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, but some members of each are found on both sides of Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...

.

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
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:...

s (family Pseudocheiridae
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:...

) and are grouped together with them to form the superfamily Petauroidea
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 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
Sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is the term for a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon ....

—gliding membranes are an adaptation which aids mobility when the forest canopy is incomplete, and are of little use in rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s— but now has representatives in New Guinea and many of the smaller islands nearby. Their similarities to the unrelated flying squirrel
Flying squirrel
Flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of 44 species of squirrels .- Description :...

s are an example of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...

.

The striped possums (trioks), on the other hand, are thought to have evolved on New Guinea, and the sole Australian species (the Striped Possum
Striped Possum
The Striped Possum is a member of the Petauridae family, one of the marsupial families. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has white stripes that form a 'Y' shape...

 of Cape York
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

) is considered a recent immigrant. All members of this genus are insectivores, and have specalised 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.

Classification

  • Genus Dactylopsila
    Dactylopsila
    Dactylopsila is a genus of marsupial in the Petauridae family.It contains the following species:*Great-tailed Triok, Dactylopsila megalura*Long-fingered Triok, Dactylopsila palpator*Tate's Triok, Dactylopsila tatei...

    • Great-tailed Triok
      Great-tailed Triok
      The Great-tailed Triok is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....

      , Dactylopsila megalura
    • Long-fingered Triok
      Long-fingered Triok
      The Long-fingered Triok is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....

      , Dactylopsila palpator
    • Tate's Triok
      Tate's Triok
      Tate's Triok, also known as the Fergusson Island Striped Possum , is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....

      , Dactylopsila tatei
    • Striped Possum
      Striped Possum
      The Striped Possum is a member of the Petauridae family, one of the marsupial families. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has white stripes that form a 'Y' shape...

      , Dactylopsila trivirgata
  • Genus Gymnobelideus
    • Leadbeater's Possum
      Leadbeater's Possum
      Leadbeater's Possum is an endangered possum restricted to small pockets of remaining old growth mountain ash forests in the central highlands of Victoria north-east of Melbourne...

      , Gymnobelideus leadbeateri
  • Genus Petaurus
    Petaurus
    The genus Petaurus contains flying phalangers or wrist-winged gliders, a group of arboreal marsupials. There are six species, Sugar Glider, Squirrel Glider, Mahogany Glider, Northern Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider and Biak Glider, and are native to Australia or New Guinea.Flying phalangers are...

    • Northern Glider
      Northern Glider
      The Northern Glider is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is dry savanna....

      , Petaurus abidi
    • Yellow-bellied Glider
      Yellow-bellied Glider
      The Yellow-bellied Glider is an arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum that lives in a narrow range of native eucalypt forests down eastern Australia, reaching from northern Queensland to Victoria.-Habitat:...

      , Petaurus australis
    • Biak Glider
      Biak Glider
      The Biak Glider is a species of marsupial in the Petauridae family. It is endemic to the Schouten Islands in West Papua of Indonesia....

      , Petaurus biacensis
    • Sugar Glider
      Sugar Glider
      The sugar glider is a small gliding possum originating from the marsupial family.The sugar glider is native to eastern and northern mainland Australia and is also native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.- Habitat :Sugar gliders can be found all throughout the northern and eastern parts of...

      , Petaurus breviceps
    • Mahogany Glider
      Mahogany Glider
      The mahogany glider is an endangered gliding possum native to a small region of coastal Queensland.-Appearance:A nocturnal arboreal marsupial, the mahogany glider closely resembles the sugar glider, the squirrel glider and the yellow-bellied glider., but is noticeably larger than any of its...

      , Petaurus gracilis
    • Squirrel Glider
      Squirrel Glider
      The Squirrel Glider is a nocturnal gliding possum, one of the wrist-winged gliders of the genus Petaurus.-Habitat:...

      , Petaurus norfolcensis
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