Possum

BIRD: linking the biodiversity community

Category: Marsupials

A possum is any of about 25 small to medium-sized arboreal diprotodonts native to Australia and the islands to the north. The name possum derives from the opossums of the Americas and, unlike most common names applied to Australian fauna in the early years of European colonisation, happens to be accurate: opossums are distant relatives.

The term possum has no particular taxonomic meaning: it simply indicates a small or medium sized marsupial that lives in trees and mostly eats plant matter. The various possums are related to one another, but often no more closely than they are to a kangaroo or a bettong.

Possums range in size from about half the size of a mouse (the Honey Possum of southwest Western Australia) to larger than a cat (the Common Brushtail, with several others only slightly smaller). All species are nocturnal. Most are technically omnivorous but primarily herbivorous.

The various possums make up a very significant portion of Australia's mammal biodiversity. About two-thirds of surviving Australasian marsupials belong to the order Diprotodontia, which contains about 120 species in 11 families. The 25 different possums account for 6 of those 11 families.

To the superficial eye, possums have coped rather better with European colonisation than most other native mammal groups: the Common Brushtail and (to a lesser extent) Common Ringtail have adapted well to European settlement, and no possum species have become extinct in Australia since 1788. This happy circumstance, however, disguises very serious concerns for several of the lesser-known species, which are reduced in number, threatened, or endangered. In Victoria, for example, the Mountain Pygmy Possum and Leadbeater's Possum were thought to be extinct for many years, and both remain on the endangered list.

The Common Brushtail and Common Ringtail possums were introduced to New Zealand by Europeans in an attempt to establish a fur industry. They quickly escaped into the wild and the Brushtail in particular has become established in great numbers: around 60 million individuals. There have been numerous attempts to eradicate them because of the damage they do to native trees and wildlife. For New Zealand, possums have been almost as much of an ecological disaster as rabbits have been in Australia.

Possum families:

• Phalangeridae (brushtail possums and cuscuses)
  • Southern Common Cuscus Phalanger intercastellanus
  • Common Spotted Cuscus Spilocuscus maculatus
  • Mountain Brushtail Possum Trichosurus caninus
  • Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecta
  • Scaly-tailed Possum Wyulda squamicaudata
• Burramyidae pygmy possums
  • Mountain Pygmy Possum Burramys parvus
  • Long-tailed Pygmy Possum Cercartetus caudatus
  • Western Pygmy Possum Cercartetus concinnus
  • Little Pygmy Possum Cercartetus lepidus
  • Eastern Pygmy Possum Cercartetus nanus
• Tarsipedidae Honey Possum
  • Honey Possum Tarsipes rostratus
• Petauridae gliders and allies
  • Striped Possum Dactylopsila trivergata
  • Leadbeater's Possum Gymnobelideus leadbeateri
  • Yellow-bellied Glider Petaurus australis
  • Sugar Glider Petaurus breiceps
  • Mahogany Glider Petaurus gracilis
  • Squirrel Glider Petaurus norfolcensis
• Pseudocheiridae mostly ringtailed possums
  • Lemuroid Ringtail Possum Hemibelideus lemuroides
  • Greater Glider Petauroides volans
  • Rock Ringtail Possum Petropsudes dahli
  • Western Ringtail Possum Psudocheirus occidentalis
  • Common Ringtail Possum Psudocheirus peregrinus
  • Green Ringtail Possum Psudocheirus archeri
  • Daintree Ringtail Possum Psudocheirus cinereus
  • Herbert River Ringtail Possum Psudocheirus herbetensis)
• Acrobatidae Feathertail gliders
  • Feathertail Glider Acrobates pygmaeus
  • Feathertail Possum Distoechurus pennatus
• (Not listed here: 7 other diprotodont families, see diprotodontia.)