Species Protection: Flying Marsupials – Spectrum of Science

Sky acrobat

Big Southerly Bagger (Petorodia) It is one of the cuddliest animals on the planet – and soon also one of the endangered animals: in the past twenty years, the number of animals has continued to decline. Marsupials are between 35 and 45 cm long and live on the east coast of Australia, where they prefer to feed on eucalyptus. Thanks to the membranes between the arms and the legs, they can slide up to 100 meters if needed, for example when they want to reach the eucalyptus tree that is especially tempting for the next meal.

Experts have always suspected this Petorodia In fact, it consists of three different species: the fauna in northern Australia is at least much lighter than its southern relatives, and the color of the fur varies according to habitat. But as of now there is no meaningful genetic analysis that would make this distinction official.

A team led by Kara N. Youngentop of the Australian National University compensated for this: They examined the genetic makeup of 63 large-scale southern birds from five different groups and found some important differences. As a result, one has to come out of three in the future Bitoroids– The species are talking. Next to a. Aviation There is now too P. minor And the a. BraceletsWrite researchers In the specialized magazine “Scientific Reports”.