Kingdom: Animalia
Division: Chordata
Subdivision: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Metatheria
Word Helper
Arboreal animal: an animal which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or bushes.
Dasyurid: small carnivorous nocturnal marsupials of Australia and Tasmania.
Marsupium: an abdominal pouch that is formed of a fold of the skin and encloses the mammary glands of most marsupials.
Prehensile: adapted for seizing, grasping, or holding.
Therophily: pollination by non-flying mammals.
Therophilous: plants that are pollinated by non-flying mammals.
Eastern Pygmy-Possum
Cercartetus nanus
Description:The eastern pygmy-possum is light-brown on top and white underneath. It is small, weighing between 15 and 43 grams and measuring 70 to 110 millimeters in head and body length. It has an almost naked, prehensile tail, big, forward-facing ears, long whiskers, and large, bulging eyes. It feeds primarily on nectar and pollen using its brush tipped tongue to collect food resources, but it does eat insects and also will eat fruits if flowers are unavailable.
Life History:These critters are mainly solitary and sedentary. Breeding occurs in nests built by females in tree hollows, under the bark of eucalypts, and in shredded bark. Young are born throughout the year, but most births occur between late spring and early autumn on mainland Australia and during late winter to spring on Tasmania. A female gives birth to four or five young and they then stay in the marsupium for up to six weeks following birth.
Habitat:This species is found in a broad range of habitats including rainforest, woodland, and heath. It lives in hollows, rotten stumps, holes in the ground, abandoned bird nests, and thickets of vegetation.
Distribution:The eastern pygmy-possum is found in Tasmania
and southeastern Australia.
Status:This species is considered vulnerable. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat specifically due to logging, changed fire regimes, declining shrub diversity due to overgrazing, and predation.
A marsupial (Infraclass: Metatheria) is a mammal in which the female has a pouch, called a marsupium, wherein it rears its young. Marsupials are common pollinators outside of the United States, specifically in Australia. The honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) pollinates plants in the genus Banksia (Family: Proteaceae) and the two are thought to have co-evolved. In fact, the abundance of honey possums fluctuates in concert with Banksia flower production. The honey possum is well adapted for collecting pollen and nectar and it feeds exclusively on these resources. Long filiform papillae, or projections, are found on the surface of the tongue and are used to collect pollen and nectar. The honey possum inserts its pointy snout and long brush-tipped tongue inside flowers and incidentally collects pollen on its fur, which is then transported to other flowers as the honey possum feeds. The honey possum also pollinates species in the myrtle (Family: Myrtaceae) and heath (Family: Epacridaceae) families.
Other marsupials known to pollinate plants in the family Proteaceae include the eastern pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus), western pygmy-possum (Cercartetus concinnus), sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus), and several species of dasyurid marsupials of the genus Antechinus. The feathertail glider is known to pollinate plants in eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia in a similar manner to the honey possum. These nocturnal marsupials feed on pollen and nectar by sticking their heads and long tongues inside of flowers. Their tongues are brushed with fine hairs to aid in collecting pollen and nectar. When they stick their heads into the flower, their fur collects pollen. The next flower they feed upon is then pollinated by the pollen stuck to the animal's fur. Likewise, the eastern pygmy-possum is a significant pollinator of Banksia and other native flowering plants by transferring pollen stuck to its face.
Non-Flying Mammals Pollination Syndrome
Plants pollinated by non-flying mammals often have similar traits, or a pollination syndrome. Floral traits include: dull color, robust structure, musky odors, nocturnal nectar production, and abundant nectar and pollen.
Honey Possum
A honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) uses its well-adapted tongue to feed. Photo courtesy of Professor Don Bradshaw, University of Western Australia.
Tarsipes rostratus
Description:The honey possum is greyish-brown with yellow to white underneath. It has a dark stripe running to the tail and two lighter outer stripes that are not as long. The tail is almost naked with a prehensile tip. It has a long, slender snout and long tongue. The animal is very small, weighing between 12 and 22 grams and having a head and body length ranging from 70 to 85 mm. Females are larger than males.
The honey possum is the only survivor in the marsupial family Tarsipedidae. It is nocturnal and relies heavily on its sense of smell. Honey possums have non-overlapping home ranges of less than 2.5 acres, but they will group together to feed.
Life History:Male and female honey possums come together for a brief period to mate. Interestingly, these small critters have the longest sperm of any mammal recorded. Three birth peaks occur per year - the first is in January to February and the next two occur in three month intervals after the first peak - coinciding with abundant nectar resources. However, young have been documented in every month of the year except December. Two to four honey possums are born weighing 2 to 6 milligrams each, the smallest at birth of all mammals, and they remain in the marsupium for eight weeks. They then emerge and stay in a nest or forage with the mother for the next three to four weeks. The honey possum is fully weaned at 11 weeks and is fully mature at six months.
Habitat:The honey possum lives in sandplain heathlands, shrublands, and open low woodlands with heath understory.
Distribution:This species is found in the southwestern coastal district of western Australia.
Status:The honey possum is rare. It has a limited and declining range, and it is threatened by habitat destruction due to fires and clearing.
Description:A feathertail glider is a small marsupial that is about 3 inches long and weighs 12 grams. It travels from tree to tree gliding through the air - it does this by extending the flaps of skin that are attached from the elbows to the ankle and gliding. It has a feather-like tail fringed with stiff hairs that acts as a stabilizer, rudder, and brake during gliding. A feathertail glider is an arboreal animal and it feeds on insects, nectar, pollen, and sap. It has a specially adapted tongue with a brush of fine hairs to aid in pollen and nectar collection. Interestingly, this species cannot initially digest pollen and must actually eat it twice. It first collects pollen from flowers and ingests it. The pollen is fermented in the gut and then expelled as droppings, which are re-eaten.
Life History:Breeding occurs in feathertail gliders year round with the fewest births occurring in autumn. Female feathertail gliders produce up to two litters per year, each with two or three babies. Young are born and then remain in the marsupium for about eight weeks. After leaving the marsupium, the young remain in the nest with the male and female for seven weeks. Nests are constructed of dry eucalypt leaves in a tree hollow. The species is gregarious and, on average, the nest is shared with two to five others, but nests with up to 25 feathertails have been documented. Young may continue to live with the parents until the following season or longer. This species reaches sexual maturity at six months.
Habitat:This species lives in tall forests and woodlands.
Distribution:Feathertail gliders are found throughout eastern and southeastern Australia.
Status:This species is common throughout its range.
Resources: FeathertailGlider (Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers, Australia)
