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 common ringtail possum is an Australian marsupial.
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 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.
D'Albertis' ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The plush-coated ringtail possum or golden ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The coppery ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The lowland ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
Slender ringtail possum or Small ringtail possum (Pseudochirulus), also known as the ringtail possum, is a genus of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae native to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. Pseudochirulus live on trees and their diet mainly consists of leaves. The ringtail possums are related to five other genera Hemibelideus, Petauroides, Petropseudes, Pseudocheirus and Pseudochirops.
The Weyland ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is endemic to the western Central Cordillera, including the Weyland and Star Mountains, of Papua Province, Indonesia. P. caroli is also "known from four localities west of the Star Mountains" and tends to live in montane forest or other hilly areas. Currently the Weyland ringtail is not endangered, but should be "monitored [because] it could rapidly become threatened if either human encroachment or hunting were to increase significantly."
The painted ringtail possum or moss-forest ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It inhabits montane forests between altitudes of 450 to 3800 metres throughout the Huon Peninsula montane rain forests, Central Range montane rain forests and Huon Peninsula montane rain forests of Papua New Guinea. It has a diet of primarily leaves, including those of Medinilla.
The Vogelkop ringtail possum is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is endemic to the Vogelkop Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia.
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.
Ringtail, ring tail, or ring-tail may refer to:
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.
The masked ringtail possum is a marsupial possum of the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in northeastern New Guinea in the Star Mountains. the eastern Central Cordillera, the Huon Peninsula and the northern coast ranges. Masked ringtails are arboreal residents of various forest ecosystems. They are sexually dimorphic and locally common. This species is sometimes classified as a subpopulation of P. forbesi; however, it has a separate range.
The Central Range montane rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion on the island of New Guinea. The ecoregion covers the Central Range of the New Guinea Highlands, which extends along the spine of the island. The montane rain forests of the ecoregion are distinct from the surrounding lowland forests, and are home to many endemic plants and animals.
