Yellow-bellied glider

The yellow-bellied glider, Petaurus australis, also called the fluffy glider, is a nocturnal, tree-dwelling gliding possum of the eucalypt forests and woodlands of eastern Australia, ranging from far north Queensland south to Victoria and from sea level up to about 1,400 metres. It is a marsupial roughly the size of a rabbit, with grey-brown fur above, an off-white to orange or yellow belly, large pointed ears and a tail up to 48 centimetres long; adults weigh about 700 grams and males are usually larger than females. It is the largest of the wrist-winged gliders of the genus Petaurus and can glide as far as 150 metres. Gregarious and among the most vocal of the possum gliders, it shelters by day in leaf-lined tree hollows shared with family members and carries a growling call audible from 500 metres away. It feeds on sap, nectar, honeydew, pollen and insects, notching the bark of eucalypts to make sap flow. Two subspecies are recognised, the common southern Petaurus australis australis and the rarer, logging-threatened northern Petaurus australis reginae. Habitat loss from timber harvesting and agriculture has driven a population decline of more than 30 percent over three generations, and the species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.