X A V I Posted March 18 Posted March 18 The Sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) is a small arboreal gliding possum that belongs to the marsupial infraclass. It is so called due to loving sweet food such as sugar and honey, while the word 'glider' refers to their gliding habit when moving between trees. Sugar gliders have very similar habits and appearance to the flying squirrel, despite not being closely related - an example of convergent evolution. The scientific name of these animals translates from Latin as "short-headed rope-dancer", a reference to their canopy acrobatics.The Sugar glider has a squirrel-like body with a long, partially (weakly) prehensile tail. The fur coat is thick, soft, and is usually blue-grey; although some have been known to be yellow, tan, or (rarely) albino. A black stripe is seen from its nose to midway on its back. Its belly, throat, and chest are cream in color. Males have four scent glands, located on the forehead, chest, and two paracloacal that are used for marking group members and territory. Scent glands on the head and chest of males appear as bald spots. Females also have a paracloacal scent gland and a scent gland in the pouch but do not have scent glands on the chest or forehead. The males of this species are typically larger than the females. https://animalia.bio/sugar-glider?collection=37
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