Southern large flying bagger
| Southern large flying bagger | ||||||||||||
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Southern large flying booty ( Petauroides volans ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Petauroides volans | ||||||||||||
| ( Kerr , 1792) |
The southern big flight bagger ( Petauroides volans ) is a mammal from the family of the ring bagger (Pseudocheiridae), which occurs with two subspecies in the east of Australia. The nominate form , Petauroides volans volans , occurs from Bundaberg in southeast Queensland to Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Petauroides volans incanus lives from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales to eastern Victoria . Two other giant gliding pouches were originally considered to be subspecies of Petauroides volans , but are listed as separate species in the 2015 marsupial volume of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World , a standard work on mammalogy ( Mittlerer Großflugbeutler and Nördlicher Großflugbeutler ).
features
The animals reach a head body length of 35 to 45 cm, have a 45 to 60 cm long tail and weigh 900 to 1700 g. This means that the southern large-scale flight bag is both the largest type of giant gliding bag and the largest type of marsupial capable of gliding. Like the two other types of giant glide pouches, this type has glide membranes that extend from the elbow to the heel and enable the animals to glide. The head is short, the muzzle is pointed. The large, oval ears are hairy on the outside, the inside is hairless. The tail is bushy and significantly longer than the head and trunk combined. It has a short, hairless area at the bottom of the tip. The fur is dense and shaggy and in P. volans volans usually dark brown or gray in color, but overall very variable. Often cream-colored spots appear on the head and limbs, which sometimes also extend to the trunk. In P. volans incanus , the fur is usually gray-brown, similar to that of the medium-sized large- sized flight bagger . P. volans incanus differs from this species in its size and proportionally larger ears.
Habitat and way of life
The southern large-scale flying bucket lives in different forest types which are dominated in most cases by eucalyptus trees. This includes both moist forests and dry forests with hard- leaf vegetation , forests with tall, old eucalyptus stands, west of the Great Dividing Range also in open forests with lower trees. Overall, the distribution area is island-like and only in about 50% of the forests in the distribution area there are actually southern large-scale flybirds. Especially where there are no or only a few tree hollows, the species is absent. In some regions it occurs only together with certain plant species. These include the lemon eucalyptus ( Corymbia citriodora ) and Eucalyptus tereticornis . The animals are relatively sedentary and nocturnal. Males usually live in an area of 1.2 to 4.4 ha, the habitat of the females is significantly smaller with 0.9 to 1 ha. The living quarters of males and females can overlap but the animals avoid encounters outside of the breeding season. With their gliding flights, they can cover distances of up to 100 meters.
nutrition
The southern large flying butler feeds mainly on young leaves, buds and flowers of eucalyptus trees and other tree species from the myrtle family . Especially the leaves of the eucalyptus subgenus Monocalyptus are consumed. The leaves of the eucalyptus subgenus Symphyomyrtus and of Corymbia are less important . Important food plants are Eucalyptus cypellocarpa , Broad-leaved Eucalyptus ( E. dalrympleana ), E. fastigata , E. globoidea , E. moluccana , E. obliqua , E. ovata , peppermint eucalyptus ( E. radiata ), giant eucalyptus ( E. regnans ), E. tereticornis and rod-shaped eucalyptus ( E. viminalis ). In addition, leaves of acacia and amyema , as well as buds and young cones of the Monterey pine ( Pinus radiata ) are eaten from time to time. Most of the time the animals feed high up in the treetops. From there you can also undertake the longest gliding flights. In most cases only three to six trees are visited in one night to eat. However, these are always trees of different species. The low nutritional content of the leafy food, the small stomach of the animals and the long time it takes for digestion mean that the southern large-winged flybuckers, like all ringbuttles, are relatively lazy animals that only search for food 25 to 30% of the time spends other activities and otherwise rests or sleeps.
Reproduction
The juveniles of the southern large flying butler are born from March to June with an accumulation in April and May. The young animals stay in their mother's pouch for the first 90 to 120 days, around 90 days after birth they are occasionally transported on their backs. They become self-employed when they are ten to eleven months old. Many young animals probably stay in their mother's territory for the time being. The 1.6: 1 gender ratio in favor of the females among the pups may be due to the higher mortality rate in male pups due to aggressive behavior by the fathers or other males. The young are sexually mature in the second age. Females can give birth every year, but only 60 to 75% of adult females have a young. It is not known whether the males also participate in the rearing of the young.
Danger
The southern large flight bagger is considered to be " Least Concern ", but is sensitive to deforestation. Since it is dependent on old trees in which there are tree hollows, regenerative forests are only very slowly repopulated. Especially in the south of the distribution area, the population of the southern large flying fish is suffering from the stalking of the giant owl ( Ninox strictua ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Stephen Jackson: Family Pseudocheiridae (Ring-tailed Possums and Greater Gliders). in Don E. Wilson , Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. Lynx Editions, 2015, ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6 . P. 522.