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Common Brushtail Possum - Trichosurus vulpecula
Topic Started: Nov 9 2012, 09:44 AM (2,345 Views)
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Common Brushtail Possum - Trichosurus vulpecula

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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Phalangeridae
Genus: Trichosurus
Species: Trichosurus vulpecula

The common brushtail possum is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae. It is native to Australia, and the largest of the possums.

It is the Australian marsupial most often seen by city-dwellers, as it is one of few that thrive in cities, as well as a wide range of natural and human-modified environments. It was introduced in New Zealand during the 19th century, where it is now a major agricultural and conservation pest.

Habitat

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The common brushtail possum is perhaps the most widespread mammal of Australia. It is found throughout the eastern and northern parts of the continent, as well as some western regions, Tasmania, and a number of offshore islands. It is also widespread in New Zealand since its introduction in 1840.
The common brushtail possum can be found in a variety of habitats, such as forests, semiarid areas and even cultivated or urban areas. It is mostly a forest inhabiting species, however it is also found in treeless areas.

Description
The common brushtail possum has large and pointed ears. It has a bushy tail (hence its name) that is adapted to gaping branches, prehensile at the end with a hairless ventral patch. Its forefeet have sharp claws and the first toe of each hind foot is clawless but has a strong grasp. The possums groom themselves with the third and fourth toes, which are fused together. The common brushtail possum has a thick and woolly pelage that ranges in color depending on the subspecies. Color patterns tend to be silver-gray, brown, black, red or cream. The ventral areas are typically lighter and the tail is usually brown or black. The muzzle is marked with dark patches.

The largest member of its family, the common brushtail possum has a head and body length of 32–58 cm (12.5-22 in), with a tail length of 24–40 cm (9.5-16 in). It weight greatly ranges from 1.2-4.5 kg (2.7-10 lb).

Males are generally larger than females. In addition, the coat of the male tends to be reddish at the shoulders. As with all marsupials, the female brushtail possum has a forward-opening, well-developed pouch. The common brushtail possum’s chest has a scent gland that emits a reddish secretion which stains that fur around it. It marks its territory with these secretions.

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Ecology
The common brushtail possum is largely arboreal and nocturnal. It has a mostly solitary lifestyle, and individuals keep their distance with scent markings and vocalizations. Brushtail possums usually make their dens in natural places like tree hollows and caves but will also use spaces in the roofs of houses. While they sometimes share dens, brushtails normally sleep in separately.

The common brushtail possum can adapt to numerous kinds of vegetation. It prefers Eucalyptus leaves but will also eat flowers, shoots, fruits and seeds. It may also consume animal matter such as insects, birds’ eggs and small vertebrates (such as rats). Brushtail possums may eat three or four different plant species during a foraging trips, unlike some other arboreal marsupials, such as the koala and the greater glider, which focus on single species.

The brushtail possum's rounded molars cannot cut Eucalyptus leaves as finely as more specialized feeders. They are more adapted to crushing their food which enables them to chew fruit or herbs more effectively. The brushtail possums’ caecum lacks internal ridges and cannot separate coarse and fine particles as efficiently as some other arboreal marsupials. The brushtail possum cannot rely on Eucalyptus alone to provide sufficient nitrogen. Its more generalised and mixed diet, however, does provide adequate nitrogen.

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Reproduction
The common brushtail possum can breed at any time of the year, but breeding tends to peak in spring, from September to November, and in autumn, from March to May, in some areas. Mating is promiscuous and random; some males can sire several young in a season while over half sire none.

Females have a gestation period of 16–18 days, after which they give birth to single young. A newborn brushtail possum is only 1.5 cm long and weighs only 2 g. As usual for marsupials, the newborn brushtail possum may climb, unaided, through the female’s fur and into the pouch and attach to a teat. The young develops and remains inside the mother’s pouch for another four or five months. When older, the young is left in the den or rides on its mother’s back until it is seven to nine months old.

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Edited by Taipan, Nov 11 2012, 01:31 PM.
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Alien Possums Gobbling New Zealand Forests, Birds

Sean Markey in Wellington, New Zealand
for National Geographic News
April 25, 2006



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With its bushy tail, tall ears, and pink nose, Australia's brush-tailed possum could be the poster child for cute critters.

But here in New Zealand—where millions of the animals eat native plants, trees, and birds by the bushel—the marsupials are possums non grata.

"They are gobbling through this country as if it was made of ice cream," said Herb Christophers, spokesperson for the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) in Wellington.

The pests were introduced to New Zealand in the 19th century and today spread bovine tuberculosis to livestock and wreak havoc on forests, competing with native birds for food.

Possums can munch half a pound (300 grams) of foliage a day and prey on the eggs and chicks of endangered birds like the kokako, kereru, and kiwi—New Zealand's iconic national bird.

"They're an absolute pest," said Anne Field, a Christchurch weaver who uses yarn spun from merino wool and dead possum fur.

"I don't think anybody has a good word for them."

Native to Australia, where they are now protected, brush-tailed possums were first introduced to New Zealand in 1837 to jump-start the fur trade.

The cat-size marsupials gained a permanent foothold here by 1858. Finding abundant food and no natural predators, they have never looked back.

Today possums occupy nearly 99 percent of the country, according to Christophers, and are poised to "take a stranglehold" on the last possum-free scrap of land in New Zealand, the area of Fiordland.

New Zealand's environment is defenseless against invasive animals like possums, stoats, and rats, because it evolved in isolation over the last 65 million years.

Except for two small species of bats, there are no native mammals here to prey on or compete with introduced animal pests.

Few plants have evolved the prickly, bitter, or noxious leaves that deter grazing.

As a result, countless possums now treat New Zealand's lush forests as an all-you-can-eat buffet, denuding trees, killing forest canopies, and altering the makeup of forest plants.

The pests' destructive potential is enhanced by their tree-climbing habits.

Possums will "have a go at any adult bird, nestling, [or] egg" they find, said Greg Napp, a DOC community relations manager near Abel Tasman National Park on the northwest tip of the South Island (see map).

He adds that the predators have also learned to hunt the area's endangered giant land snail, a meat-eating species found nowhere else in the world.

Not surprisingly, many New Zealanders haven't taken kindly to their unwelcome visitors.

Some Kiwis resort to possum road-rage.

"We squash them on the roads a lot," Field, the Christchurch weaver, said, "but we're not making any headway."

Others have launched cottage industries that utilize possum fur and skins.

Grant Fitz-William and Jocelyn Rae sell one of the more wry products on the market—possum-leather lampshades—from their South Island possum tannery and café, the Naked Possum.

But Christophers, the DOC official, says possum numbers can only be tamed through large-scale pest management.

A raft of national and regional government agencies engage in possum control.

The largest by far is the national Animal Health Board, which polices some 20 million acres (8 million hectares), or one-third of the country, to protect diary and beef cattle and farmed deer from bovine tuberculosis.

Other agencies include DOC, which annually targets about 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of its total 20-million-acre (8-million-hectare) portfolio for possum control.

Extermination methods include trap lines, ground-based poisoned bait stations, and aerial drops of sodium fluoroacetate, also known as 1080.

The biodegradable poison is mixed into dyed food pellets and spread by GPS-guided helicopters to blanket large swaths of backcountry.

"Even though we get a small by-catch in species we want, we also kill a lot of possums," DOC's Napp said, noting that net the effect for native birds is positive once possums are removed.

Some deer hunters and environmentalist object to aerial 1080 drops. But Forest and Bird, New Zealand's largest conservation organization, has endorsed the technique.

Gerry McSweeney, past president of Forest and Bird, says trapping is too labor intensive and expensive to keep pace with possums.

"We simply can't save enough animals fast enough—native animals—to prevent their extinction," he said.

"Which is why we've had to look at more widespread and cost-effective and ultimately ecologically effective systems. And probably top of that list is the use of sodium fluoroacetate, or 1080."

No one knows just how many brush-tailed possums call New Zealand home. One study put the tally at 70 million. But experts say the projection was flawed.

"In a native forest, it doesn't matter how many [possums] there are," Christophers, the DOC official, said.

"If they're in the wrong place, then there's too many."

It appears unlikely that New Zealand can rid itself of its unwelcome dinner guests anytime soon—if ever.

"They're having a bloody good time over here," Christophers said.

"In my humble opinion, if we could give them back to the Aussies—come and get them."


Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/04/0425_060425_possum.html
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