The petaurids include the striped possum, Leadbeater's possum, and wrist-winged gliders. All told there are 10 species currently recognized, placed in 3 genera. Petaurids are found in forested areas of Australia and New Guinea.
These small to medium-sized marsupials all have a dark dorsal stripe that runs from the rump to the head. Their tail is long, very furry, and prehensile. Many species have a well-developed gliding membrane that extends from the wrists to the ankles. Other species, however, lack this membrane or have only a vestige of it. Like other members of the order Diprotodontia, petuarids are syndactylous and diprotodont. Digits 1 and 2 on the forefeet are opposable to digits 3-5, and the hindfoot has a well-developed hallux.
Petaurids have long, sharp, and procumbent (outwardly projecting) lower incisors. Their molars are low-crowned (bunodont) and have smooth cusps. The dental formula is 3/2, 1/0, 3/3, 4/4 = 40. The cranium has strongly developed zygomatic arches.
Members of this family have a well-developed pouch, which opens anteriorly.
Petaurids feed on insects and on the sap and gum of eucalypts and acacias. They obtain sap by making wounds in tree bark with incisors. One group, the dactylopsilines, have a remarkably long fourth digit on their forefeet. They forage by thumping on branches with their hands, then listening for the movement of insects inside. They open a hole with their rodent-like incisors and extract their prey with their elongated fourth finger and long tongue -- a manner of foraging very much like the primates, aye-ayes.
 leadbeater |
 mahogany glider |
 squirrel glider |
 sugar glider |
 white striped possum |
 yellow bellied glider |
Family Acrobatidae Family Burramyidae Family Macropodidae Family Petauridae Family Phalangeridae Family Phascolarctidae Family Potoroidae Family Pseudocheiridae Family Tarsipedidae Family Vombatidae<<<<<<<>>>>>>> ARTIODACTYLA CARNIVORA CETACEA CHIROPTERA DASYUROMORPHIA DERMOPTERA DIDELPHIMORPHI DIPROTODONTIA HYRACOIDEA INSECTIVORA LAGOMORPHA MACROSCELIDEA MICROBIOTHERIA MONOTREMATA NOTORYCTEMORPHIA PAUCITUBERCULATA PERAMELEMORPHIA PERISSODACTYLA PHOLIDOTA PRIMATES PROBOSCIDEA RODENTIA SCANDENTIA SIRENIA TUBULIDENTATA XENARTHRA
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