- Long-tailed Pygmy Possum
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Long-tailed Pygmy Possum[1] Conservation status Scientific classification 
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia Family: Burramyidae Genus: Cercartetus Species: C. caudatus Binomial name Cercartetus caudatus
(Milne-Edwards, 1877)
Long-tailed Pygmy Possum range The Long-tailed Pygmy Possum (Cercartetus caudatus) is a diprotodont marsupial found in the rainforests of northern Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. Living at altitudes of above 1,500 meters, it eats insects and nectar, and may eat pollen in place of insects in the wild.
The long-tailed pygmy possum has large eyes, mouse/rodent-like ears, a pouch that opens anteriorly, and a tail that is about one and half times as long as the body, giving the possum its name.
Not much is known of this possum's behaviour, but what is known is that this species is both nocturnal and arboreal. In cold weather it becomes torpid and looks and feels dead, but wakes at night. Not much is known on the origin of this torpor.
This species breeds twice a year. Females have 1-4 young born around January and February and sometimes a second litter from late August to early September. The young leave the nest when they are 45 days old.
They only grow up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in).
References
- ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 44. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- ^ Aplin, K., Dickman, C., Salas, L., Burnett, S. & Winter, J. (2008). Cercartetus caudatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Categories:- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Possums
- Mammals of Queensland
- Mammals of New Guinea
- Mammals of Indonesia
- Marsupials of Australia
- Animals described in 1877
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