Trichosurus vulpecula

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Mammal. This solitary, nocturnal , arboreal marsupial (introduced from Australia) damages native forests in New Zealand by selective feeding on foliage and fruits. It also preys on bird nests and is a vector for bovine tuberculosis.

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,397 meters (0 to 4,583 feet).[1]

Ecology: It is a largely arboreal , nocturnal species, that is generally found in dry eucalypt forests and woodlands. Large populations of this species can be found in pine plantations and suburban and urban areas (Kerle and How 2008). It breeds year round in some areas, in others it will breed in one or two seasons . Females begin breeding at about one year of age and a single young is born after a getstation period of 16 to 18 days; it has a pouch life of four to five months (Kerle and How 2008).

This species is commercially harvested in Tasmania. On Kangaroo Island, it is treated as a pest species (to humans and other threatened species) and there are removal permits . It is major a pest species in pine plantations in Australia where it can do considerable damage, and acts as a host of bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand (Kerle and How 2008).[2].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.4     Forest - Temperate   
  
•     1.5     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     2     Savanna   
  
•     2.1     Savanna - Dry   
  
•     14     Artificial/Terrestrial   
  
•     14.3     Artificial/Terrestrial - Plantations   
  
•     14.4     Artificial/Terrestrial - Rural Gardens   
  
•     14.5     Artificial/Terrestrial - Urban Areas   
[more info]

Biology

Reproduction

Reproduction is highly seasonal with the main breeding season in autumn. A secondary season in spring sometimes occurs when nutrition is good. Gestation is 17-18 days. Single newborn young (c. 0.2g) crawl into the pouch and attach to a teat . Most development occurs within the pouch, where they remain for 120 - 140 days. Young remain with the mother (initially riding on her back) for a further 100 days or more, becoming independent from 240 -270 days old. Females may mature at one year old; males at 15 months or more.

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 28-Nov-2006

Populations from Barrow Island, the edge of the Pilbara, Kimberley, and northern Northern Territory are sometimes considered a separate species (i.e. , Trichosurus arnhemensis) (e.g. , Groves 2005). Likewise, populations from the Atherton Tablelands are sometimes considered a species (T. johnstonii) (e.g., Flannery 1994, Groves 2005). Usually, however, these populations are considered subspecies of T. vulpecula (e.g., Kerle and How 2008). (Ref. 311691).

Similar Species

Members of the genus Trichosurus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 7 species and subspecies in this genus:

T. arnhemensis (Northern Brush-Tailed Possum) · T. caninus (Short-Eared Brushtail Possum) · T. caninus caninus (Mountain Brush-Tailed Possum) · T. cunninghami (Mountain Brushtail Possum) · T. johnstonii (Coppery Brushtail) · T. vulpecula (Common Brushtail Possum) · T. vulpecula hypoleucus (Common Brushtail Possum)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A catalogue of the collection of mammals in the Field Columbian Museum. 1907 8 Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1907. url p. 12, p. 659.
• A hand-book to the marsupialia and monotremata / by Richard Lydekker. 1896 London: E. Lloyd, 1896. url p. 88.
• A monographic study of the American marsupial, Caenolestes, by Wilfred H. Osgood, with a description of the brain of Caenolestes, by C. Judson Herrick. 14 1921 Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1921. url p. 95, p. 97, p. 99.
• Advances in the study of mammalian behavior / edited by John F. Eisenberg and Devra G. Kleiman. [Stillwater, Okla.]: American Society of Mammalogists; 1983. url p. 152, p. 153, p. 186.
• An atlas of the chromosome numbers in animals. Ames, Iowa State College Press[1951] url p. 263.
• Analysis of development, edited by Benjamin H. Willier, Paul A. Weiss [and] Viktor Hamburger. Philadelphia, Saunders, 1955. url p. 516.
• Anatomischer Anzeiger. Jena: G. Fischer, 1886- url p. 108, p. 111, p. 187, p. 188, p. 25, p. 27, p. 30, p. 31, p. 40, p. 45, p. 565, p. 580, p. 590, p. 628, p. 67, p. 87.
• Animal ecology, by Charles Elton; with an introduction by Julian S. Huxley. New York, Macmillan Co., 1927. url p. 112.
• Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York, New York Academy of Sciences. url p. 370.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url , p. 110, p. 114, p. 131, p. 141, p. 158, p. 354, p. 69, p. 71, p. 74, p. 76, p. 76, p. 78, p. 86, p. 89, p. 95.
• Anzeiger der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe. Wien: Der Akademie, 1864-1914. url p. 417.
• Atlas of New World marsupials / Barbara E. Brown. 102 2004 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 2004. url fig. 55 , p. 95.
• Biosphere Reserves, Compilation 4, October 1986: programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 36.
• Blood immunity and blood relationship; a demonstration of certain blood-relationships amongst animals by means of the precipitin test for blood, by George H. F. Nuttall...Including original researches by G. S. Graham-Smith...and T. S. P. Strangeways. Cambridge, University press, 1904. url p. 262.
• Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. New YorkAmerican Museum of Natural History1881- url , p. 189.
• Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902- url , p. 183.
• Catalogue of Australian mammals, with introductory notes on general mammalogy, by J. Douglas Ogilby. Sydney, Australian Museum; printed by order of the Trustees, 1892. url p. 28, p. 28.
• Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta / by John Anderson, Superintendent of the Indian Museum. Calcutta, 1881-1891. url p. 27, p. 341, p. 342.
• Catalogue of mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, Calcutta, 1881-1891. url , .
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 372, p. 847.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. Compiled by the Royal Society of London. London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1867-1902 [etc.] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914-25. url p. 372, p. 847.
• Catalogue of the Marsupialia and Monotremata in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). London, Printed by order of the Trustees, 1888. url , , .
• Comparative physiology of temperature regulation. Editors: John P. Hannon [and] Eleanor Viereck. Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory, 1962. url p. 127.
• Contributions to embryology. Washington, D.C. url p. 88.
• Dromiciops gliroides Thomas, 1894, last of the Microbiotheria (Marsupialia), with a review of the family Microbiotheriidae / Philip Hershkovitz. 93 1999 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, c1999. url p. 35.
• Effects of highways on wildlife and fish with special reference to Montana a ProCite literature collection / Bozeman, Mont.: Fish and Wildlife Management Program, Montana State University, 2001 url , .
• Evolution of mammalian molar teeth to and from the triangular type including collected and revised researches trituberculy and new sections on the forms and homologies of the molar teeth in the different orders of mammals, by Henry Fairfield Osborn. .. Ed. by W. K. Gregory. New York, Macmillan, 1907. url p. 112.
• Functional morphology and biochemistry of reptilian oviducts and eggs: implications for the evolution of reproductive modes in tetrapod vertebrates / 1990. url p. 186.
• General embryological information service. Utrecht, Hubrecht Laboratory. url p. 100, p. 102, p. 104, p. 113, p. 113, p. 127, p. 19, p. 19, p. 59, p. 78, p. 95.
• Geological magazine. London [etc.]Cambridge University Press. url p. 43.
• Jenaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft. Jena, Gustav Fischer [etc.]. url p. 546.
• Journal of anatomy and physiology. Cambridge [Eng., etc.]University Press url p. 197, p. 203, p. 208, p. 302, p. 339, p. 351.
• Journal of comparative neurology. Philadelphia, Pa.: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, [1911?- url p. 515, p. 530.
• Journal of mammalogy. Baltimore, Md.: American Society of Mammalogists url , , , , p. 121, p. 187, p. 189, p. 191, p. 198, p. 254.
• Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Oxford [etc.]Royal Microscopical Society. url p. 18, p. 404, p. 538.
• List of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London. London: Printed for the Society, 1896. url p. 209.
• Materials for the study of variation: treated with especial regard to discontinuity in the origin of species / by William Bateson. London: Macmillan, 1894. url p. 254, p. 271, p. 591.
• Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. Brisbane, Queensland Museum, 1912- url p. 294.
• Natural history in zoological gardens; being some account of vertebrated animals, with special reference to those usually to be seen in the Zoological society's gardens in London and similar institutions, by Frank E. Beddard. .. With illustrations by Gambier Bolton & Winifred Austen. London, A. Constable & co., ltd.;1905. url p. 144, p. 309.
• Nature. London, etc., Macmillan Journals Ltd., etc. url , p. 206, p. 232, p. 450, p. 556, p. 581, p. 589.
• Nutritional ecology and digestive physiology of the hoatzin, Opisthocomus hoazin, a folivorous bird with foregut fermentation / 1991. url .
• Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania, The Society. url p. 121, p. 123, p. 38.
• Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 575, p. 857.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , p. 103, p. 106, p. 110, p. 111, p. 113, p. 117, p. 118, p. 122, p. 126, p. 127, p. 17, p. 171, p. 191, p. 196, p. 2, p. 200, p. 205, p. 213, p. 222, p. 235, p. 241, p. 246, p. 249, p. 257, p. 260, p. 265, p. 270, p. 273, p. 274, p. 276, p. 285, p. 288, p. 299, p. 304, p. 308, p. 309, p. 31, p. 311, p. 32, p. 32, p. 324, p. 354, p. 41, p. 425, p. 43, p. 509, p. 526, p. 55, p. 561, p. 606, p. 607, p. 63, p. 68, p. 706, p. 761, p. 78, p. 83, p. 89, p. 90, p. 91, p. 96, p. 98.
• Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Melbourne: The Society, 1889- url p. 200, p. 206.
• Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. Mosman, New South Wales [etc.]The Society. url p. 10, p. 12, p. 14, p. 33.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url , p. 614.
• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url , , , , , , p. 1003, p. 1005, p. 1006, p. 1011, p. 1020, p. 1020, p. 1052, p. 1052, p. 1065, p. 1065, p. 13, p. 203, p. 30, p. 302, p. 305, p. 310, p. 328, p. 34, p. 355, p. 355, p. 475, p. 540, p. 550, p. 552, p. 554, p. 559, p. 567, p. 570, p. 571, p. 577, p. 595, p. 602, p. 605, p. 770, p. 779, p. 790, p. 794, p. 829, p. 971, p. 973, p. 980.
• Publication. Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago, U.S.A.: The Museum, 1910-1943. url p. 22.
• Quarterly journal of microscopical science. Oxford: Clarendon Press url p. 102, p. 159, p. 173, p. 173, p. 20, p. 341, p. 391, p. 398, p. 431, p. 434, p. 441, p. 442, p. 443, p. 452, p. 453, p. 473.
• Rambles of an Australian naturalist, written by Paul Fountain. .. from the notes and journals of Thomas Ward. London, J. Murray, 1907. url p. 342.
• Readings in mammalogy / selected from the original literature and introduced with comments by J. Knox Jones, Jr., and Sydney Anderson. [Lawrence, Kans.]: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1970. url p. 130, p. 155, p. 165, p. 219, p. 225, p. 228, p. 229.
• Report of the Australian Association for the advancement of Science. Sidney, The Association. url p. 109.
• Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and financial report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents for the year ending June 30. .. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1933-1965. url p. 105, p. 110, p. 113, p. 113, p. 114, p. 141, p. 158, p. 73, p. 86, p. 95.
• Report. New York url p. 215.
• Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896-1899. J. B. Hatcher in charge. Edited by William B. Scott. Princeton, The University, 1901-32 [v. 1, 1903] url .
• Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 237, p. 265, p. 314.
• Science progress in the twentieth century: a quarterly journal of scientific work & thought. London: John Murray, 1906-1916. url p. 311, p. 461.
• Selected readings in mammalogy: selected from the original literature and introduced with comments / by J. Knox Jones, Jr., Sydney Anderson, and Robert S. Hoffmann. Lawrence, Kan.: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1976. url p. 118, p. 142, p. 152, p. 213, p. 225, p. 234, p. 235.
• Smithsonian contributions to knowledge. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1848-1916. url , p. 238.
• Smithsonian year: annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ended Sept. 30. .. 1979 City of Washington: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1980-2001. url p. 429.
• Special scientific report--wildlife / U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service, 1949- url p. 369.
• Spixiana. 3 1980 München: Zoologische Staatssammlung München, 1977- url p. 166.
• Systematics of the extinct South American marsupial family Polydolopidae / Larry G. Marshall --. Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 1982 url p. 11.
• The American anatomical memoirs / Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. Philadelphia: The Institute, 1918- url p. 213, p. 215.
• The American journal of anatomy. Baltimore, MD: [s.n.], 1902-1991. url p. 200, p. 36.
• The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology being a continuation of the Annals combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History. London, Taylor and Francis, Ltd. url p. 170, p. 611.
• The Australian zoologist. Sydney, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales url p. 14, p. 149, p. 28, p. 62, p. 63.
• The Cambridge natural history / edited by S. F. Harmer and A. E. Shipley. London: Macmillan and Co.; 1895-1909. url p. 140, p. 68.
• The Cambridge natural history, ed. by S.F. Harmer. .. and A.E. Shipley. .. London, Macmillan and co., limited;1895-1909 url p. 140, p. 68.
• The Ecology of arboreal folivores: a symposium held at the Conservation and Research Center, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, May 29-31, 1975 / Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978. url , p. 155, p. 165, p. 171, p. 185, p. 186, p. 188, p. 189, p. 190, p. 201, p. 202, p. 203, p. 267, p. 286, p. 287, p. 289, p. 302, p. 303, p. 305, p. 306, p. 307, p. 308, p. 310, p. 311, p. 312, p. 313, p. 322, p. 324, p. 392, p. 421, p. 435, p. 436, p. 82.
• The Hamilton fauna; a late Pliocene mammalian fauna from the Grange Burn, Victoria, Australia / [by] William D. Turnbull -- and Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. -- [Chicago]Field Museum Press, 1970. url p. 14, p. 15, p. 17, p. 18, p. 19, p. 20.
• The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book IUCN url p. 582.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society of London. London: Academic Press [etc.], 1865-1968. url p. 454, p. 531, p. 542, p. 556.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng. [etc.]: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux [etc.] url p. 245.
• The Victorian naturalist. [Melbourne]Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. url p. 123, p. 157.
• The adrenals, by Arthur Grollman. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1936. url p. 43, p. 69.
• The animals of the world. Brehm's life of animals; Chicago, A. N. Marquis, 1895. url .
• The animals of the world: Brehm's Life of animals; a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools / by Alfred Edmund Brehm; copiously illustrated. .. by Fr. Specht. .. [et al.] Mammalia. Brought down and especially adapted for the use of English readers. Tr. from the 3d German edition as ed. by Chicago: A.N. Marquis & Co., 1895. url p. 585.
• The auditory region (ossicles, sinuses) in gliding mammals and selected representatives of non-gliding genera. 58 1971 [Chicago]Field Museum of Natural History, 1971. url p. 39.
• The book of the animal kingdom. Mammals, by W. Percival Westell, F.L.S. 14 coloured & 260 plain plates chiefly from photographs of the living animals, by W. E. Berridge, F.Z.S. London, E. P. Dutton & co., 1910. url p. 198, p. 198.
• The handy natural history, by Ernest Protheroe, F.Z.S. With 318 illustrations, 136 being in full color. 1910 Boston, R.G. Badger, The Gorham press, 1910. url p. 440.
• The life of animals; the mammals, London, The Macmillan Company, 1906. url .
• The mammalian fauna of Madura Cave, Western Australia. Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. --, William D. Turnbull --. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1982. url p. 1, p. 17, p. 18, p. 19, p. 20, p. vi.
• The mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin, by Charles B. Cory. .. 11 1912 Chicago, 1912. url p. 22, p. 22.
• The naturalisation of animals & plants in New Zealand, Cambridge [Eng.]University Press, 1922. url .
• The new natural history, by Richard Lydekker. .. and R. Bowdler Sharpe, H.A. MacPherson, F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, W.R. Ogilvie Grant, C.J. Gahan, F.A. Bather, Edgar A. Smith, R.I. Pocock, M. Bernard, H. Bernard and R. Kirkpatr New York, Merrill and Baker[189-?] url p. 258.
• The physiology of reproduction, London, Longmans, Green, and co., 1922. url , .
• The physiology of reproduction, by Francis H.A. Marshall. .. With contributions by William Cramer. .. James Lockhead. .. and Cresswell Shearer. .. London, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1922. url p. 731, p. 756.
• The physiology of reproduction; with a preface by E.A. Schäfer and contributions by William Cramer and James Lochhead. London, Longmans, url p. 36, p. 731.
• The royal natural history / edited by Richard Lydekker; with preface by P.L. Sclater; illustrated with seventy-two coloured plates and sixteen hundred engravings by W. Kuhnert, F. Specht, P.J. Smit, G. Mützel, A.T. Elwes, J. W London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1893-1896. url p. 258.
• The royal natural history. With pref. by P. L. Sclater. Illustrated with 72 col. plates and 1600 engravings. London, F. Warne, 1893-96. url p. 258.
• The sense of touch in mammals and birds: with special reference to the papillary ridges / by Walter Kidd. With 164 illustrations from drawings and micro-photographs. London: A and C. Black, 1907. url p. 135, p. 86.
• The span of gestation and the cause of birth: a study of the critical period and its effects in mammalia / by John Beard. Jena: G. Fischer, 1897. url p. 23.
• The vertebrate eye and its adaptive radiation [by] Gordon Lynn Walls. Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Cranbrook Institute of Science, 1942 url p. 227, p. 319, p. 671, p. 673, p. 709.
• The wild beasts of the world / by Frank Finn; illustrated with 100 reproductions in full colours from drawings by Louis Sargent, Cuthbert E. Swan, and Winifred Austin. London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, [1909?] url , , p. 165.
• The wild beasts of the world / illustrated by Louis Sargent and others. London, Jack, 1909. url , .
• The wild beasts of the world; Edinburgh, T. C. & E. C. Jack, [1909] url .
• Transactions and proceedings and report of the Royal Society of South Australia (Incorporated). 28 1904 Adelaide: W.C. Rigby, 1904-1911. url p. 15.
• Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia (Incorporated). Adelaide: W.C. Rigby, 1912-1937. url , p. 176, p. 179, p. 285, p. 361, p. 373, p. 432, p. 53, p. 54, p. 63, p. 69, p. 705, p. 91.
• Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. London: [The Society], 1879- url p. 550.
• Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 16 1892-1896 Adelaide, Australia: The Society, 1890-1903. url p. 154.
• Zoologica; scientific contributions of the New York Zoological Society. New York. url p. 189.
• Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Anatomie und Ontogenie der Tiere Jena [Germany]:G. Fischer, c -1993. url , p. 408, p. 499, p. 78, p. 79, p. 81, p. 83, p. 84, p. 85, p. 87, p. 89, p. 93, p. 95, p. 96.
• Zoologist. London.1843-1916 url , p. 423.
• [Collected reprints, 1912-1919. s.l., s.n., 19--] url .

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Morris, K., Woinarski, J., Friend, T., Foulkes, J., Kerle, A. & Ellis, M. 2008. Trichosurus vulpecula. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 05February2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 26, 2007:

• Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Mammal specimens
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum, Mammal specimens
• University of Minnesota Bell Museum of Natural History, Mammal specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 107554
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-552696
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13545296
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 552696
• IUCN ID: 247086
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 12304

Footnotes

1. Mean = 168.900 meters (554.134 feet), Standard Deviation = 359.670 based on 539 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. Morris, K., Woinarski, J., Friend, T., Foulkes, J., Kerle, A. & Ellis, M. 2008. Trichosurus vulpecula. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 05 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.