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Petauroides volans

The greater glider (Petauroides volans) is a small gliding marsupial found in Australia. It is not closely related to the Petaurus group of gliding marsupials but instead to the lemur-like ringtail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides), with which it shares the subfamily Hemibelideinae. The greater glider is nocturnal and is a solitary herbivore feeding almost exclusively on Eucalyptus leaves and buds. Like its relative the lemur-like ringtail, the greater glider is found in two forms: a sooty brown form, or a grey-to-white form. The greater glider is found in eucalypt forest from Mossman, Queensland, to Daylesford, Victoria. Greater gliders have a head and body 39 to 43 centimetres (15 to 17 in) long, with the females generally being larger than the males. Their body is covered with a shaggy coat of fur that increases their apparent size, and the tail is long and bushy, ranging from 44 to 53 centimetres (17 to 21 in). The head is short with a pointed muzzle and their large ears are fringed and backed with long fur. Each side of the body bears membranes stretching between the elbow and the ankle that give the animal the ability to perform controlled glides. This is in contrast to other gliding marsupials (such as the sugar glider) that have gliding membranes stretching from the wrists to the ankles. The feet have strongly recurved claws to grip onto bark or other surfaces. There are five toes on each foot; the first toe on the hind foot and the first two toes on the fore foot are opposable. The fur is soft and up to 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long; its colour is variable within a single population and ranges from white to brown and charcoal. Body mass varies clinally from 1,600 grams (3.5 lb) in southern Victoria to 600 grams (1.3 lb) in north Queensland. Heat management in the greater glider is performed by licking extremities and the ventral body surface, and direct evaporation is the main method of cooling. It can also use its gliding membranes to reduce heat loss by increasing the layer of insulation at the skin surface. The glider is not well equipped to handle high ambient temperatures as it inefficiently uses water for evaporation via salivation despite arboreal habitats often having limited water accessibility. The glider can digest low nutrient foliage, specifically eucalypt leaf matter, which contains a variety of phenolic and terpenoid compounds and a high concentration of lignified fibre. Animals can digest about 50–60% of the leaf during its passage through the gut. The gut has a specialized caecum that contains a population of bacteria that ferment food residues that remain undigested in the small intestine. For a population in a eucalypt forest near Maryborough, Queensland, it has been calculated that their daily energy intake is about 1130 kJ, which is provided by about 45 to 50 grams (0.099 to 0.110 lb) of dry matter daily.

[ "Arboreal locomotion", "Wildlife conservation", "Brushtail possum" ]
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