Trichosurus vulpecula

(Kerr, 1792)

Common Brush-tailed Possum

Taxonomy

Subclass : Theria
Infraclass : Marsupialia
Superorder : Australidelphia
Order : Diprotodontia
Suborder : Phalangerida
Superfamily : Phalangeroidea
Family : Phalangeridae
Subfamily : Trichosurinae
Genus : Trichosurus

Species status

Living
Found in the wild
Listed in MSW3 2005

Authority citation

Kerr, R. 1792. The Animal Kingdom, or Zoological System of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus. Class I. Mammalia. A. Strahan, T. Cadell, and W. Creech, Edinburgh, 462 pp.

Original name as described

Didelphis vulpecula

Other common names

Common Brushtail · Silver-grey Possum

Type locality

"Botany Bay [= Sydney], " New South Wales, Australia.

Biogeographic realm

Australasia

Country distribution

Australia

Taxonomy notes

tentatively does not include T. johnstonii, but does include arnhemensis; recent molecular phylogenetic data showed that T. johnstonii is genetically imbedded within T. vulpecula; this paper, however, suggests that T. vulpecula may be a species complex (showing that both johnstonii and arnhemensis form monophyletic clades, as well as a few other populations/subspecies), and we tentatively retain T. johnstonii here pending a more complete revision of the T. vulpecula complex

Taxonomy notes citation

Kerle, J. A. and How, R. A. 2008. Common Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus vulpecula. In: S. Van Dyck and R. Strahan (eds), The mammals of Australia. Third Edition, pp. 274-276. Reed New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. · Wilson D., Mittermeier R. 2015. Handbook of the mammals of the world. Vol. 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. CSIRO. · Middleton, S. C., Davis, R. A., Travouillon, K. J., Hopkins, A. J., Mills, H. R., & Umbrello, L. S. (2025). Revised phylogeography of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) reveals new insights into genetic structure across Australia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 204(1), zlaf026.

IUCN Red List status

Least Concern

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.

Names and synonyms

Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details. If the list is long, scroll down to see more.

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