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The Phalangeridae are a family of mostly nocturnal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Eastern Indonesia, including the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and their close relatives. Considered a type of possum, most species are arboreal, and they inhabit a wide range of forest habitats from alpine woodland to eucalypt forest and tropical ...
Wobbly Possum Disease is a fatal neurological condition of the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), first reported in 1995. [1] [2] Symptoms include a stumbling gait, tremors, blindness, activity during the daytime, and falling from trees. [2] The disease is believed to be caused by a virus. [3]
Males make a clicking "smack" noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. The mother in return makes a clicking sound and waits for the baby to find her.
Common ringtail possums live a gregarious lifestyle which centres on their communal nests, also called dreys. [18] Ringtail possums build nests from tree branches and occasionally use tree hollows. A communal nest is made up of an adult female and an adult male, their dependant offspring and immature offspring of the previous year. [8]
The common brushtail possum is considered a pest in some areas, as it is known to cause damage to pine plantations, regenerative forest, flowers, fruit trees, and buildings. Like other possums , it is rather tolerant of humans and can sometimes be hand fed, although it is not encouraged, as their claws are quite sharp and can cause infection or ...
Physically, they appear very similar to the pygmy possums, except for their greater size. Even so, they are relatively small animals, with the largest being cat-sized, and they weigh between 200 grams and 2 kilograms.
The rock-haunting ringtail possum mostly uses scent to communicate. Adult possums have a distinct gland on the chest and males have a paracloacal gland which is about 2 cm in diameter. [6] The possum maintains scent posts that are visited commonly. The rock-haunting ringtail possum uses both urine and faeces to mark these areas.
The species are commonly known as possums, opossums, [3] gliders, and cuscus. The common name "(o)possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatan language aposoum "white animal", from Proto-Algonquian * wa·p-aʔɬemwa "white dog"). [ 4 ]