Brushtail possum

Brushtail possums[1]
Common brushtail possum by John Gould, 1863
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Phalangeridae
Genus:	Trichosurus (Lesson, 1828)
Type species
Didelphis vulpecula (Kerr, 1792)
Species
see text

The brushtail possums are the members of the genus Trichosurus in the Phalangeridae, a family of marsupials. They are unique among marsupials for having shifted the hypaxial muscles from the epipubic to the pelvis, much like in placental muscles, meaning that their breathing cycle is more similar to the latter than to that of other non-eutherian mammals.^[2] In general, they are more terrestrial oriented than other possums, and in some ways might parallel primates.

It contains the following species:

• Northern brushtail possum, Trichosurus arnhemensis
• Short-eared possum, Trichosurus caninus
• Mountain brushtail possum, Trichosurus cunninghami
• Coppery brushtail possum, Trichosurus johnstonii
• Common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula

Gallery

• 
  Northern brushtail possum (T. arnhemensis)
• 
  Short-eared possum (T. caninus)
• 
  Coppery brushtail possum (T. johnstonii)
• 
  Common brushtail possum (T. vulpecula)
• 
  Brushtail possum joey (f), alongside those of an echidna (a), Virginia Opossum (b), Gray short-tailed opossum (c), Koala (e) and Southern brown bandicoot (g).

References

1. Groves, C.P. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 49–50. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
2. Reilly SM, McElroy EJ, White TD, Biknevicius AR, Bennett MB, Abdominal muscle and epipubic bone function during locomotion in Australian possums: insights to basal mammalian conditions and Eutherian-like tendencies in Trichosurus, J Morphol. 2010 Apr;271(4):438-50. doi: 10.1002/jmor.10808.