Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas. However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos.
The Daintree National Park is located in Far North Queensland, Australia, 1,757 km (1,092 mi) northwest of Brisbane and 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Cairns. It was founded in 1981 and is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. In 1988, it became a World Heritage Site. The park consists of two sections—Mossman Gorge and Cape Tribulation, with a settled agricultural area between them which includes the towns of Mossman and Daintree Village.
The Queensland tropical rain forests ecoregion covers a portion of the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia and belongs to the Australasian realm. The forest contains the world's best living record of the major stages in the evolutionary history of the world's land plants, including most of the world's relict species of plants from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. The history of the evolution of marsupials and songbirds is also well represented.
The feathertail glider, also known as the pygmy gliding possum, pygmy glider, pygmy phalanger, flying phalanger and flying mouse, is a species of marsupial native to eastern Australia. It is the world's smallest gliding mammal and is named for its long feather-shaped tail.
Petauridae is a family of possums containing 11 species: four species of trioks and striped possum, six species of wrist-winged glider, and Leadbeater's possum, which has only vestigial gliding membranes. Most of the wrist-winged gliders are native to Australia, whereas most of the striped possums to New Guinea, but some members of each group are found on both sides of the Torres Strait. Leadbeater's possum is endemic to Victoria, Australia.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all four of the criteria for natural heritage for selection as a World Heritage Site. World Heritage status was declared in 1988, and on 21 May 2007 the Wet Tropics were added to the Australian National Heritage List.
The Daintree River is a river that rises in the Daintree Rainforest near Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of Cairns in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics of Queensland. The area is now primarily a tourist attraction.
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.
The yellow-bellied glider, also known as the fluffy glider, is an arboreal and nocturnal gliding possum that lives in native eucalypt forests in eastern Australia, from northern Queensland south to Victoria.
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 genetic differences, obtained using diversity arrays technology, showed there were three species subsumed under this one name. The two new species were named Petauroides armillatus and Petauroides minor.
The Herbert River ringtail possum is a species of possum found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a dark brown to black species, sometimes with a white belly. The Herbert River ringtail possum was long considered conspecific with the cinereus ringtail possum, despite the fact that they are very different in appearance. They are, however, the only members of their New Guinea-centred genus found in Australia. The Herbert River ringtail possum is restricted to tropical rainforest from Mount Lee, west of Ingham, to the Lamb Range, west of Cairns.
The Daintree River ringtail possum, also known as the cinereus ringtail possum, is a species of possum found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It was long believed to be the same as the Herbert River ringtail possum, but has recently been separated. The two species differ considerably in appearance.
The lesser sooty owl is a medium-sized barn owl endemic to the wet tropics region of Australia. Once considered a subspecies of the greater sooty owl, it is distinguished by its dark plumage, heavier spotting, and higher-pitched call. The lesser sooty owl has a limited range within northeastern Australia and primarily lives in dark, sheltered areas of the rainforest.
The western ringtail possum or ngwayir is a species of possum 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 a long prehensile tail with a whitish tip. Ngwayir forage at night through the upper canopy of trees, feeding on young leaves, flowers and fruit, especially in groves of the weeping peppermint Agonis flexuosa. Breeding occurs mainly during the winter, the single juvenile emerging from the pouch after about three months. The population has declined by more than 95% since British settlement, due to clearing of habitat, fire and the introduction of the red fox Vulpes vulpes, and is classified as Critically Endangered. The population in most areas has catastrophically declined or become locally extinct, but strongholds remain in the urbanised areas near Busselton and Albany.
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 superfamily Phalangeroidea, including cuscuses and brushtail possums and pygmy possums, is the immediate sister group of the Petauroidea. The earliest fossils from this superfamily are from the Oligocene of the Geilston Bay fossil site in Tasmania.
Thornton Peak is a prominent mountain that rises above the Daintree Rainforest to a height of 1374 m. The mountain is located about 126km northwest of Cairns within the catchment of the Daintree River.
The Windsor Tablelands are a series of plateaus located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Windsor Tableland and surrounding rainforest area are contained as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, sitting between the Daintree Rainforest and Mount Lewis National Park. Additionally, the region is contained in the state electorate of Cook and situated in the greater Tablelands Region of North Queensland. The Tablelands hug the mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range with the nearest town being Wujal Wujal. The Tableland area is a larger part of the Mount Windsor Forest Reserve which represents 44,000 hectares of land in the Wet Tropic region and is a conserved nature area, as proclaimed by the Government of Queensland in 2005. Predominately the majority of the Mount Windsor Tableland is closed off for any form of public use and access to the area is often only given on request. There is currently no residential population in the Mount Windsor Tableland region as a majority of the area is national park.
The northern greater glider is a species of gliding marsupial endemic to the forests of north-central Queensland, Australia.
