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Common Ringtail Possum
Pseudocheirus peregrinus
-27.5084, 153.018
Field Notes
Description:
The common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus, Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits. This possum also consumes a special type of faeces that is produced during the daytime when it is resting in a nest. This behaviour is called coprophagia and is similar to that seen in rabbits.
Habitat:
Ranges on the east coast of Australia, as well as Tasmania and a part of southwestern Australia. They generally live in temperate and tropical environments and are rare in drier environments. Ringtail possums prefer forests of dense brush, particularly eucalyptus forests. This one was spotted in my backyard. They are common in urban areas.
Notes:
The Common Ringtail Possum feeds on a wide variety of plants in the Myrtacae family including the foliage, flowers and fruits from shrubs and lower canopy. This fellow was true to form because it was feeding on the fruit of a Lilli Pilli. We get lots of the brushtail possums in my area, but fewer ringtails. In the same Lilli Pilli tree, there have also been Brushtail Possums feeding, as well as Black Flying Foxes. The bats will not approach the tree when the Brushtails are present, but seem quite happy to feed with the smaller Ringtail. Here's some info on the tree itself - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/94416007 I've been waiting for months to get some photos of a ringtail and I finally did, although the quality of the photos is less than I had hoped for.
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