Brush-tailed_possum

Brushtail possum

Brushtail possum

Genus of marsupials

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

The brushtail possums are the members of the genus Trichosurus in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are native to Australia (including Tasmania) and some small nearby islands. Unique among marsupials, they have shifted the hypaxial muscles from the epipubic to the pelvis, much like in placental muscles, meaning that their breathing cycle is more similar to the latter than to that of other non-eutherian mammals.[2] In general, they are more terrestrially oriented than other possums, and in some ways might parallel primates.

The genus contains these species:

  • Northern brushtail possum (T. arnhemensis)
  • Short-eared possum (T. caninus)
  • Coppery brushtail possum (T. johnstonii)
  • Common brushtail possum (T. vulpecula)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trichosurus.
  1. [1]
    Groves, C. P. (2005). "Genus Trichosurus". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 49–50. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. [2]
    Reilly, S. M.; McElroy, E. J.; White, T. D.; Biknevicius, A. R.; Bennett, M. B. (2010). "Abdominal muscle and epipubic bone function during locomotion in Australian possums: Insights to basal mammalian conditions and eutherian‐like tendencies in Trichosurus". Journal of Morphology. 271 (4): 438–450. doi:10.1002/jmor.10808. ISSN 0362-2525. PMID 19862837.


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