Pseudocheirus Explained

Pseudocheirus is a genus of ringtail possums (family Pseudocheiridae). It includes a single living species, the common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) of Australia, as well as the fossil Pseudocheirus marshalli from the Pliocene of Victoria.[1]

Other species have previously been included in this genus. Most other ringtails—the lemur-like ringtail (Hemibelideus lemuroides), the rock-haunting ringtail (Petropseudes dahli), and the various species of Pseudochirulus and Pseudochirops—were classified in Pseudocheirus until the 1980s or 1990s.[2] A second ringtail from the Victorian Pliocene, Petauroides stirtoni, was originally named as a Pseudocheirus, but is now considered to be more closely related to the greater glider (Petauroides volans).[3]

The genus was erected by William Ogilby in 1837, the same author later using then correcting the spelling Pseudochirus that is now regarded as a nomenclatural synonym used in error by authors such as Oldfield Thomas.[4]

Taxonomic opinion favours treatment of the western population, Pseudocheirus peregrinus occidentalis, as a separate species (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), though the contradictory evidence from current studies have prevented this recommendation being published.[5]

Literature cited

Notes and References

  1. Turnbull et al., 2003, p. 533; Groves, 2001, p. 51
  2. Groves, 2001, pp. 50–53
  3. Turnbull et al., 2003, p. 533
  4. Web site: Genus Pseudocheirus Ogilby, 1837 . Australian Faunal Directory . biodiversity.org.au . 19 June 2019 . en.
  5. Web site: Pseudocheirus occidentalis — Western Ringtail Possum. Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. 3 November 2010.