biology

List of phalangeriformes

List of phalangeriformes is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of phalangeriformes rather than just read about it. In short: Phalangeriformes is a suborder of Australian marsupial mammals. Members of this suborder are called phalangeriformes, and include possums, gliders, and cuscus.

Key takeaways

List of phalangeriformes belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of phalangeriformes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of phalangeriformes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Phalangeriformes is a suborder of Australian marsupial mammals. Members of this suborder are called phalangeriformes, and include possums, gliders, and cuscus. Phalangeriformes is one of three suborders that form the order Diprotodontia, the largest extant order of marsupials. They are found in Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia, generally in forests, though some species can also be found in shrublands and grasslands. They range in size from the Tasmanian pygmy possum, at 5 cm (2 in) plus a 6 cm (2 in) tail, to the cuscus of the genus Spilocuscus, at 64 cm (25 in) plus a 59 cm (23 in) tail. Phalangeriformes primarily eat leaves, fruit, and insects, though many are omnivorous and will eat small vertebrates or other plant material. Many phalangeriformes do not have population estimates, but the ones that do range from 50 mature individuals to 75,000. No species have gone extinct in modern times, but five are categorized as endangered: the southern greater glider, Tate's triok, mahogany glider, Gebe cuscus, and Woodlark cuscus. A further eight species are categorized as critically endangered: Leadbeater's possum, northern glider, western ringtail possum, mountain pygmy possum, Talaud bear cuscus, Telefomin cuscus, black-spotted cuscus, and blue-eyed spotted cuscus. The sixty-four extant species of Phalangeriformes are divided into six families grouped into two superfamilies: Petauroidea, containing two species in two genera in the family Acrobatidae, eleven in three genera in the family Petauridae, eighteen in six genera in the family Pseudocheiridae, and a single species in the family Tarsipedidae; and Phalangeroidea, containing five species in two genera in the family Burramyidae and twenty-seven in five genera in the family Phalangeridae. Several extinct Phalangeriformes species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the phalangeriformes's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted.

Classification The suborder Phalangeriformes consists of six extant families grouped into two superfamilies: Acrobatidae, Petauridae, Pseudocheiridae, and Tarsipedidae in the superfamily Petauroidea, and Burramyidae and Phalangeridae in the superfamily Phalangeroidea. Acrobatidae contains two species in two genera, Petauridae contains eleven species in three genera, Pseudocheiridae contains eighteen species in six genera, Tarsipedidae contains a single species, Burramyidae contains five species in two genera, and Phalangeridae contains twenty-seven species in five genera.

Phalangeriformes The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Superfamily Petauroidea

Acrobatidae

Petauridae

Pseudocheiridae

Subfamily Hemibelideinae

Subfamily Pseudocheirinae

Subfamily Pseudochiropsinae

Tarsipedidae

Superfamily Phalangeroidea

Burramyidae

Phalangeridae

Subfamily Ailuropinae

Subfamily Phalangerinae

References

Sources

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of phalangeriformes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of phalangeriformes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of phalangeriformes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of phalangeriformes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of phalangeriformes

In research: List of phalangeriformes appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of phalangeriformes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of phalangeriformes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Diprotodonts, Lists of animal species, Lists of marsupial mammals, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of phalangeriformes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of phalangeriformes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of phalangeriformes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is List of phalangeriformes in simple terms?

Phalangeriformes is a suborder of Australian marsupial mammals. Members of this suborder are called phalangeriformes, and include possums, gliders, and cuscus.

Why does List of phalangeriformes matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of phalangeriformes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of phalangeriformes.