Authority citation

Thomas, O. 1888. Catalogue of the Marsupialia and Monotremata in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). British Museum (Natural History), London, 401 pp.

Authority publication link

Original name as described

Petaurus breviceps, var. papuanus

Type material

BMNH:Mamm:1876.7.5.5

Type kind

holotype

Type specimen URI

Type locality

"Huon Gulf, E. New Guinea, " Papua New Guinea.

Biogeographic realm

Australasia

Country distribution

Indonesia · Papua New Guinea

Taxonomy notes

split from P. breviceps (and was included under P. notatus tentatively); the Australian populations of P. breviceps were recently split into 3 species, P. breviceps, P. ariel, and P. notatus, but the New Guinea populations were not attributed to any of these; later studies have now placed the New Guinea populations under a single separate species, P. papuanus, based on molecular data, but this arrangement is considered tentative and further revision is needed in this group given that P. papuanus is likely still a species complex; most captive 'sugar glider' populations seem to originate from this species

Taxonomy notes citation

Malekian, M., Cooper, S.J.B., Norman, J.A., Christidis, L.L. and Carthew, S.M. 2010. Molecular systematics and evolutionary origins of the genus Petaurus (Marsupialia: Petauridae) in Australia and New Guinea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54(1):122-135. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.026 · Carthew, S.M., Stobo-Wilson, A.M., Montague-Drake, R., Cooper, S.J.B., Baker, A.M. and Cremona, T. 2021. Integrative taxonomic investigation of Petaurus breviceps (Marsupialia: Petauridae) reveals three distinct species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191(2):503-527. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa060 · Mulko, M., Schneiderová, I., & Černá Bolfíková, B. (2025). Taxonomic reassessment of captive sugar gliders using genetic analyses and complementary acoustic data. Scientific Reports.

IUCN Red List status

Not Evaluated

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