Brushtail possum
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. In general, they are more terrestrially oriented than other possums, and in some ways might parallel primates.
| Brushtail possums | |
|---|---|
| Common brushtail possum by John Gould, 1863 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Phalangeridae |
| Genus: | Trichosurus (Lesson, 1828) |
| Type species | |
| Didelphis vulpecula (Kerr, 1792) | |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
The genus contains these species:
- Northern brushtail possum, T. arnhemensis
- Short-eared possum, T. caninus
- Mountain brushtail possum, T. cunninghami
- Coppery brushtail possum, T. johnstonii
- Common brushtail possum, T. vulpecula
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