Gliding Possum Found in Northern Australia Might Be New Species

A gliding possum discovered in northern Australia could be a new species. Researchers from Charles Darwin University have been searching Darwin and Palmerston bushland to learn more about the northern glider. The findings will contribute to research to determine whether the northern glider is a new species of gliding marsupial.

The researchers led by environmental professor Sue Carthew say the northern glider is classified as a sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps ariel). However, the researchers suspect its DNA and physical characteristics are more closely aligned to a squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis).

Carthew told ABC News, "Nobody has ever studied the gliders up here before. And there has always been an assumption that it is a thing called a sugar glider and we're discovering it's not; it's something new. This species has a much longer face and a thinner face, which is more like another species of glider, which is called the squirrel glider."

The researchers are also studying the glider to see if its numbers are declining. The study could help identify threats to the glider like feral cats.

Carthew says in a release, "There has been a dramatic decline in the abundance and diversity of small mammals in Northern Australia over the past 20 years. Now is a more important time than ever to conduct conservation research on the charismatic gliding marsupials of the Top End."

Here is a vine video of the gliding possum:

Photo: Charles Darwin University

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