| Petauridae | |
|---|---|
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| Striped possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata) | |
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| Sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Suborder: | Phalangeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Petauroidea |
| Family: | Petauridae C.L. Bonaparte, 1838 |
| Type genus | |
| Petaurus Shaw, 1791 | |
| Genera | |
Petauridae is afamily ofpossums containing 11species: four species oftrioks and striped possum (genusDactylopsila), six species ofwrist-winged glider (genusPetaurus), andLeadbeater's possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri), which has only vestigial gliding membranes. Most of the wrist-winged gliders are native toAustralia, whereas most of the striped possums toNew Guinea, but some members of each group are found on both sides of theTorres Strait. Leadbeater's possum isendemic toVictoria, Australia.
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 theringtail possums (familyPseudocheiridae) and are grouped together with them to form the superfamilyPetauroidea.
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 theopen forests of Australia—gliding membranes are an adaptation which aids mobility when the forest canopy is incomplete, and are of little use inrainforests— but now has representatives in New Guinea and many of the smaller islands nearby. Their similarities to the unrelatedflying squirrels are an example ofconvergent evolution.
The striped possums, on the other hand, are thought to have evolved on New Guinea; the sole Australian species (thestriped possum ofCape 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.
The listing for extant species is based on The Third edition of Wilson & Reeder'sMammal Species of the World (2005), except where theMammal Diversity Database andIUCN agree on a change. The family consists of the following three genera and 11 species:
Media related toPetauridae at Wikimedia Commons
Data related toPetauridae at WikispeciesAuthority control databases: National |
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