Southern greater glider
| Southern greater glider | |
|---|---|
| |
| Light morph, near Canberra | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Pseudocheiridae |
| Genus: | Petauroides |
| Species: | P. volans
|
| Binomial name | |
| Petauroides volans (Kerr, 1792)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Schoinobates volans | |
The southern greater glider (Petauroides volans),
Taxonomy
This was the first described species of Petauroides, and long thought to be the only species, with Petauroides armillatus and Petauroides minor being thought to comprise a distinct subspecies of it, P. volans minor; together, they were referred to as the greater glider. However, in 2012 and 2015, several field guides written by Colin Groves and/or Stephen Jackson listed the greater glider as being split into three species, confirmed by a 2020 analysis which found significant genetic and morphological differences between the three species.[5][6][7][8][9] The American Society of Mammalogists now considers the two subspecies to be distinct from P. volans.[2]
The Australian Government's
Distribution
Prior to being split, this species was thought to be found throughout eastern Australia, but recent taxonomic revisions and splits indicate it occupies a much smaller range. Although Jackson and Groves listed the species as ranging from
Description
This is the largest species of
The glider weighs 900–1,700 g (32–60 oz). The females are larger than males. Its thick fur, which is white or cream underneath and "varies from dark grey, dusky brown through to light mottled grey and cream" above, makes it look bigger than it is.[10] This species displays the famous polymorphism that greater gliders are well-known for, having a dark morph that is almost black in colour with a white underside, and a light morph that is grey and white with a white underside.[5][9]
Threats and conservation
Of the three greater glider species, this one is thought to be the most threatened and to have suffered the sharpest declines in population. Prior to late 2019, significant logging in the forests of Victoria and New South Wales had already led to the removal of vast swathes of hollow-bearing trees that the species depended on, and caused the species to decline by almost 80% in some areas. This was worsened when a significant proportion of the species' habitat burned in the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season; for example, over half of 96,000 acres (39,000 ha) of forest in Victoria set aside for glider protection are thought to have burned in the fires. Logging may have made these fires worse by allowing brushfires to burn hotter, and changing the composition of the landscape to less palatable food trees.[8][9]
Climate change may also threaten the species in some regions; rising night-time temperatures may cause the cold-adapted gliders to lose their appetite, leading to starvation.[8][9][11]
Conservation actions required to save the species include reconsidering the species' conservation status and banning logging and land clearance for coal mining. Ecotourism to view the species may be a potential source of conservation income as well.[8]
Notably during 2022, in the wake of the bushfires the
Classifications
The southern glider is a vulnerable species per the IUCN Red List classification. On 5 July 2022 the Australian Government declared the animal to be an endangered species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,[3][10] as it becomes more threatened by logging and climate change. Logging is regulated by state governments; however, environment minister Tanya Plibersek said that the federal government was helping to fund ten projects whose goal is to help protect the species.[4]
It is listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act 2014 (ACT); Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 (Queensland) and Nature Conservation Act 1992 (which includes both the southern and central and northern greater gliders); and Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Vic);[3] and three subpopulations are listed as endangered under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW).[10]
References
- . Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- ^ a b c "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Petauroides volans - Greater Glider (southern and central)". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ a b c Proust, Keira (6 July 2022). "Greater glider listed as endangered, as climate change and logging threatens species". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ PMID 33159131.
- ISBN 978-0-643-10406-8.
- ISBN 978-1-4863-0014-3.
- ^ a b c d e Reid, Sarah. "Australia's charismatic glider marsupial". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Two new greater glider species discovered: 'Australia's biodiversity just got a lot richer'". the Guardian. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Conservation Advice for Petauroides volans (greater glider (southern and central)) (PDF) (Report). Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. July 2022.
- ^ "Greater gliders: fears of 'catastrophic' consequences from logging in Victoria". The Guardian. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ABC News Online, 2023-01-13
Further reading
- Eyre TJ, Smith GC, Venz MF, Mathieson MT, Hogan LD, Starr, C, Winter, J and McDonald, K (2022). Guide to greater glider habitat in Queensland (PDF). Report prepared for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra. ISBN 978-1-76003-515-0.)
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