Possum Stuff 17/11/09

There are 23 described species of possum in Australia and at least as many species in New Guinea. A related species is sufficiently different to warrant its own superfamily -- the honey-possum of south-western Australia.

The possums are divided into three major families: the ringtail possums and gliders (Family Petauridae); the brushtail possums and cuscuses (Family Phalangeridae) and the pygmy possums and feathertail glider (Family Burramyidae). The fine details of the relationships between the possums is still unclear and no doubt new findings will result in changes to their classification.

The Australian possums were so named because of their supposed similarity to the opossums of South America. In fact, the two groups are not closely related apart from both being aboreal (tree-dwelling) marsupials. Indeed, some old-timers still refer to these animals as opossums and Opossum Bay, an outer suburb of Hobart, takes its name from the misnomer.

Baby Possum Rescued

A baby possum under threat of extinction hung on to its life on Wednesday, October 28, when it was rescued from the jaws of a cat. Eagle's Nest Wildlife Hospital president Harry Kunz came to the rescue of the brown lemuroid ringtail possum when he saw it being taken by a cat at East Evelyn on Wednesday morning. He said the possum 's species was on its way to extinction due to climate change, but they were often killed by cats, dogs and barbed wire too. He said the cat dropped a large female possum after he stopped his car and chased it.


The possum was dead, but nestled inside her pouch was a five-month-old baby. "The mother had her throat completely munched up," Mr Kunz said. Mr Kunz said he would raise the baby possum and release it back into the wild. The Lemuroid possum is found in just two locations, at the Carbine Tablelands at the Daintree and at the Atherton Tableland. The Daintree population of the possum was until recently believed wiped out during a heat wave in 2005.