📸 PhotoPhoto: Pengo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Leadbeater's Possum
Gymnobelideus leadbeateri (Leadbeater's Possum · フクロモモンガダマシ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 170 g is slightly heavier than a baseball (about 145 g), and its average length of 30 cm equals the long side of A4 paper (Comparison).
- 💡 Notable traits include a tail that makes up nearly half its total length and its ability to immediately produce another litter if a litter is lost.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
Leadbeater's Possum is a small marsupial living in the cool, wet highland forests of Victoria, Australia, and is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its grayish-brown body has a dark stripe down the back and a paler belly. Similar in size and build to sugar gliders, nearly half of its body length is its long tail.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on arthropods such as beetles, crickets, and spiders beneath tree bark, along with plant and insect exudates, getting about 80% of its daily energy from sap-like exudates. Female-led groups of 4–8 individuals share a nest.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List CR (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9564/21959976
- • IUCN Red List category CR — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000339
- • iucnredlist.org — 21959976
- • wikidata.org — Q301042
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Leadbeater's Possum 02 Pengo.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Gymnobelideus leadbeateri
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Margot Michaud · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Petaurus breviceps)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.