phalangerid

English

A phalangerid, Phalanger gymnotis (ground cuscus)

Noun

phalangerid (plural phalangerids)

1. (zoology) Any of the nocturnal marsupials of family Phalangeridae, which includes cuscuses and brushtail possums.
   • 1972, Matt Cartmill, “4: Arboreal Adaptations and the Origin of Order Primates”, in Russell Tuttle, editor, The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates, published 2009, page 112:

     Orbital orientation in the slow-moving phalangerid Phalanger maculatus is more primate-like than in other phalangerids, including Pseudocheirus lemuroides, one of the most acrobatic of arboreal marsupials.

   • 1999, Ian D. Hume, Marsupial Nutrition, page 202:

     One of these species, Phalanger gymnotis (ground cuscus), is reported to be the most frugivorous of the eight New Guinean phalangerid species, and is perhaps the most frugivorous of all phalangerids.

   • 2010, Peter S. Ungar, Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, page 139:

     Phalangerids are predominantly herbivorous, and some prefer leaves, whereas others eat more fruit, flowers, or grasses.

See also

• Phalangeridae