Sugar glider

The sugar glider is a small, nocturnal marsupial native to Australia and nearby islands. A membrane extending between its limbs lets it glide between trees.

Patagium: A membrane between the limbs of some animals that supports gliding. The sugar glider’s patagium spreads from wrist to ankle to form its gliding surface.
Marsupial: A mammal whose young are born at an early developmental stage and typically continue developing attached to a teat. Sugar gliders raise their underdeveloped young in a pouch, the defining marsupial pattern.
Exotic pet: A nondomesticated or nontraditional animal kept by people as a companion. Sugar gliders are kept as pets in some countries, despite demanding social and housing needs.
Krefft's glider: A small gliding possum native to northeastern Australia, formerly treated as a sugar glider subspecies. Its recognition as a separate species shows that the traditional sugar glider grouping was too broad.
Gliding flight: A form of aerial movement in which an animal descends while traveling horizontally without powered flight. Sugar gliders use controlled glides to move between trees without flapping wings.
Petauridae: A family of Australasian marsupials that includes wrist-winged gliders and striped possums. The sugar glider belongs to this family of small, arboreal possums.
Animal welfare: The physical and mental condition of animals and the ways human actions affect it. Captivity can restrict gliding, social contact, and foraging behaviors important to sugar gliders.
Savanna glider: A gliding possum of northern Australia that was long classified within the sugar glider complex. Its distinct status helps explain recent revisions to sugar glider taxonomy.
Arboreal locomotion: Movement through trees by climbing, leaping, or traveling along branches. Climbing launches and landing maneuvers connect the glider’s aerial travel to life in trees.
Petaurus: A genus of Australasian marsupials with gliding membranes between their forelimbs and hindlimbs. Sugar glider is one species within this genus of gliding possums.

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