What is sugar glider? Where is sugar glider habitat? Many people love cute little animals. It becomes cuter when that animal loves to eat sweet or sugary food. Sugar glider comes under this category. They might look like a rodent, but don’t come from the same class as squirrels and rats. At some locations, sugar gliders are considered pets.
1. Meaning of Name
The sugar glider is a tiny, omnivorous, tree inhabited, night glider possum that is classified as the marsupial infraclass. The common name is due to its addiction to sweet foods like sap and nectar and its ability to sail through the wind, similar to a flying squirrel. The scientific name of a sugar glider is Petaurus breviceps that interprets from Latin as short-headed rope-dancer, a reference intended for canopy acrobatics. (See What is the sweetest substance in the world)
2. Body Details
The sugar glider is characterized by its mix of gliding membranes, known as patagia, that stretch from its forelegs and join to its hind legs. Gliding is essential in requirements to reach food and evade predators. The animal is roofed in soft, pale grey or brown fur that’s counter-shaded, being lighter in color on its facet.
3. Their Characteristics
The nocturnal creature spends the day hours in hollows that are lined with leaves. They’re extremely social and hyperactive animals. Moreover, they form teams, which generally encompass seven or additional adult gliders and their progeny. They usually stay in groups to conserve heat for cold weather. Moreover, members of a group don’t fight with one another; however, they are known to show threatening behavior. (See Top 8 World’s Smallest Animals)
4. Sugar Gliders Communication
Every batch of sugar glider contains a dominant male, that is taken as the leader of the batch. To spot members of its batch, he uses a communication system of scent-marking. The dominant male additionally scent-marks and ferociously defends the territory against intruders. People at intervals of the batch acknowledge one another by batch scent. Outsiders, that don’t belong to the batch, are thus, discovered easily. If such cases do occur, intruders are sometimes violently attacked by the group members. Read the next section to know about the sugar glider habitat.
5. Sugar Gliders Habitat
Sugar Glider habitats are very peculiar. In their native variety, they are found on the northeast side and east side of Australia. They reside close to the lineation throughout Australia and you’ll notice them within the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.
This species depends on wooded areas as they search for food and glide from tree to tree. Hence, sugar glider habitats conjointly should also have dense vegetation to safeguard them from predators. A number of the various habitats that they occupy are eucalyptus forests, woodlands, rainforests, plantations, scrub forests, and more. These marsupials are also found in Papua, New Guinea, and a few of the nearby islands.
You’ll also notice sugar gliders as pets in households worldwide. Although, in some places, it’s not legal to keep them as a pet. (See Can you have a pet squirrel?)
6. Types of Species
A new study shows that sugar glider species are three genetically & physically distinct species:
- mammal genus breviceps,
- Krefft’s glider (Petaurus notatus), and
- grassland glider (Petaurus ariel).
7. Sugar Gliders Conversation
The devastating bushfires hit a part of Australia severely last summer. This led to the discussion of the conservation of sugar gliders before they become extinct. They are Australia’s most swish mammals i.e. species of the mammal genus have the distinctive ability to expand their skin between articulatio radiocarpea and mortise joint to glide from tree to tree. It is theorized that these flying capabilities come as a way of adapting to the open forests of Australia. Hence, an animal with such distinctive features is important for the fauna of the country. (See Are Dinosaurs Alive?)
