---
title: "What the sources say about the Sugar Glider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "67 claims from the Sugar Glider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Sugar Glider (*Petaurus breviceps*)

> 67 claims from the Sugar Glider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Sugar Glider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/sugar-glider/)

## Petaurus breviceps (sugar glider). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Petaurus_breviceps/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Forests of New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia | The sugar glider's distribution covers New Guinea and certain nearby islands, Bismark Archipelago, and northern and eastern Australia. ... Sugar gliders can live in forests of all types |
| plus pollen and nectar | Their diet also includes pollen, nectar, insects and their larvae, arachnids, and small vertebrates. |
| In spring and summer it eats mostly insects, mainly moths and beetles | During the spring and summer months sugar gliders predominately feed upon insects, mainly moths and beetles |
| in autumn and winter it switches to plant foods such as eucalyptus sap and pollen | during the fall and winter months they feed on plant products, such as eucalyptus sap and pollen |
| A colony is a family: up to seven related adults plus their young, sharing around 2.5 acres of territory | They nest in groups of up to seven adult males and females and their young, all of whom are related ... The territory size of a group of sugar gliders is around 2.5 acres. |
| The adult males mark the territory with saliva and scent from their anal, hand, and foot glands | The adult males of the group regularly mark this territory with their saliva and with the secretions of their anal, hand, and foot scent glands. |
| mark every other member with glands on the forehead and chest | Sugar gliders also have scent glands located on the forehead and chest that are used by the males in a group to mark all of the other members. |
| One dominant male usually does most of the marking | There is usually one dominant male in each group of sugar gliders, who is responsible for most of the marking of the territory and the group. |
| any glider without that shared scent gets attacked the moment it's noticed | When another animal is detected that it does not belong to the group because it does not have the group scent, it is immediately and violently attacked. |
| Males mark every other member of the group with scent glands on the forehead and chest | Sugar gliders also have scent glands located on the forehead and chest that are used by the males in a group to mark all of the other members. |
| one dominant male usually does most of the marking | There is usually one dominant male in each group of sugar gliders, who is responsible for most of the marking of the territory and the group. |
| Any glider that turns up without that shared scent is treated as an intruder and attacked immediately | When another animal is detected that it does not belong to the group because it does not have the group scent, it is immediately and violently attacked. |
| members of the same group never fight beyond threats | Within groups, no fighting takes place beyond threatening behavior. (note: 'never' paraphrases the source's own absolute, 'no fighting takes place'.) |
| In spring and summer it eats mostly insects, especially moths and beetles | During the spring and summer months sugar gliders predominately feed upon insects, mainly moths and beetles |
| In autumn and winter it switches to plant food instead, such as eucalyptus sap and pollen | during the fall and winter months they feed on plant products, such as eucalyptus sap and pollen |
| ranging across New Guinea and northern and eastern Australia | The sugar glider's distribution covers New Guinea and certain nearby islands, Bismark Archipelago, and northern and eastern Australia. (note: ADW describes the species in its old, broad sense, which is why the sentence places this range before the 2020 split.) |

## Sugar Glider. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/sugar-glider

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| glides that can reach about 150 feet between trees | A sugar glider's glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters). (note: 'between trees' is the same page's 'allows it to glide from tree to tree'.) |
| an appetite for eucalyptus sap and sweet nectar | While named for their penchant for eating forest sweets like acacia gum, eucalyptus sap, and flower nectar |
| A patagium gliding membrane running wrist to ankle | That ankle-to-wrist membrane that enables them to glide is called a patagium. |
| letting it glide up to about 150 feet between trees | A sugar glider's glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters). (note: 'between trees' is the same page's 'allows it to glide from tree to tree'.) |
| steering with its tail as a rudder | using their long, flat, bushy tail as a rudder |
| The sugar glider's big trick is a soft membrane called a patagium, stretched between each wrist and ankle | The sugar glider's main distinguishing feature is a soft membrane between its wrists and ankles called a patagium, which allows it to glide from tree to tree as though using a parachute. |
| a glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters) between trees | A sugar glider's glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters). (note: 'between trees' is the same page's 'allows it to glide from tree to tree'. ADW gives 'can glide up to 45 meters'.) |
| It steers mid-glide by tilting its hands, adjusting tension in the membrane, and using its long, flat tail as a rudder | they steer toward their target by tilting their hands and arms, adjusting the tension in their "wings," and using their long, flat, bushy tail as a rudder |
| Its head and body run 4.7 to 12 inches (120 to 320 millimeters) | Length: 4.7 to 12 inches (120 to 320 millimeters) (note: ADW gives the same range as head and body: 'its head and body are approximately 120-320mm long'.) |
| plus a tail of 6 to 18 inches (150 to 480 millimeters) | tail 6 to 18 inches long (150 to 480 millimeters) |
| It weighs 3 to 5 ounces (85 to 141 grams), about as much as a baseball | A sugar glider weighs 3 to 5 ounces (85 to 141 grams), about as much as a baseball |
| lives 4 to 5 years in the wild, up to 15 in expert care | Life Span 4 to 5 years in the wilderness; up to 15 years in expert care (note: ADW's AnAge line gives a 14-year average in the wild; the current institution page wins.) |
| Frightened, a glider can ooze a white, oily secretion that smells of soured fruit from its paracloacal glands | they will produce a white, oily secretion from their paracloacal glands, which has the odor of soured fruit |
| or stand on its hind legs, often with its mouth open | Sugar gliders will assume a defensive posture by standing on their hind legs with head extended, often with the mouth open. |
| A really frightened one may lie on its back with its feet in the air, calling out | If really frightened, they may lie on their backs with their feet up in the air while vocalizing. |
| Its patagium, a soft membrane stretched between wrist and ankle on each side, lets it glide from tree to tree | The sugar glider's main distinguishing feature is a soft membrane between its wrists and ankles called a patagium, which allows it to glide from tree to tree as though using a parachute. |
| San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says a glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters) | A sugar glider's glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters). |
| It steers by tilting its hands, adjusting tension in the membrane, and using its long tail as a rudder | they steer toward their target by tilting their hands and arms, adjusting the tension in their "wings," and using their long, flat, bushy tail as a rudder |
| a marsupial named for its taste in forest sweets | named for their penchant for eating forest sweets like acacia gum, eucalyptus sap, and flower nectar |
| launching glides that can reach about 150 feet | A sugar glider's glide can reach about 150 feet (over 45 meters). |

## Salas et al. (2016). Petaurus breviceps. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T16731A21959798.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t16731a21959798.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |
| Described in 1838 | Petaurus breviceps Waterhouse, 1838 |
| The IUCN's Least Concern rating for Petaurus breviceps dates to 2016, before that split | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Petaurus breviceps Waterhouse, 1838, IUCN taxon 16731. (note: The 2016 assessment date is in the assessment's own identifier (rlts.2016-2...), which the prefetch found as the latest assessment; GBIF's copy of the Red List was read 2026-09 and still gives LC. 'Before that split' compares 2016 with the 2020 Cremona et al. publication date.) |

## Nowack et al. (2015). Snoozing through the storm: torpor use during a natural disaster. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11243

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Tracked through a storm with category-1 cyclone wind speeds on the Australian coast | a storm with heavy rain and category 1 cyclone wind speeds ... We studied a population of Australian sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps, > ~130 g) inhabiting a coastal, subtropical habitat |
| sugar gliders stayed inactive or cut back their foraging | sugar gliders remained inactive or reduced foraging times during the storm |
| seven of the ten with data entered torpor | seven out of ten individuals for which data were available entered torpor during the storm |
| Body temperature fell as low as 13.8°C (57°F) | T b during the storm reached 13.8 °C (note: 57°F is a conversion of 13.8°C.) |
| deep torpor cut energy use by up to 67 percent | Calculated metabolic rates indicated an energy saving of 9% during shallow torpor ... and up to 67% during deep torpor |
| Every glider in the study survived and resumed normal foraging over the following night or nights | All animals survived the storm and reverted to normal foraging activity during the following night(s) |

## Feigin et al. (2023). Convergent deployment of ancestral functions during the evolution of mammalian flight membranes. Science Advances.

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade7511

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The membrane works as an airfoil | Each flying lineage has evolved a lateral flight membrane, or patagium, between the fore- and hindlimbs. This structure acts as an airfoil, generating lift and permitting directional movement during flight |
| The membrane first shows as a ridge along a joey's side, most visible at the armpit, about five days after birth | pouch young first show external evidence of the patagium at approximately 5 days after birth [postnatal day 4 (P4)], in the form of a lateral ridge, most visible at the axilla (note: pouch young are joeys; a lateral ridge runs along the side; the axilla is the armpit.) |
| A 2023 study found that a gene called Wnt5a helps it form | we demonstrate that lateral Wnt5a expression in the marsupial sugar glider ... promotes the differentiation of its patagium primordium (note: 2023 is the paper's publication year (bibliographic metadata).) |
| bats' wing membranes evolved using the same gene | this function of Wnt5a reprises ancestral roles in skin morphogenesis predating mammalian flight and has been convergently used during patagium evolution in eutherian bats |
| in mice, it likely shapes the outer ear | Our studies in eutherian laboratory mice further show that this role for Wnt5a is likely conserved in mammals, controlling skin morphogenesis in very distinct structures, such as the pinna of the ear. (note: the pinna is the outer ear.) |
| Gliding has evolved as many as six separate times in living mammals | Flight has arisen as many as seven times among extant mammals. This includes bats, which evolved powered flight, as well as six instances of unpowered flight, or gliding |
| sugar gliders and bats grow their membranes with some of the same limb-building genes | we find that many genes involved in limb development have been redeployed during patagium outgrowth in both the sugar glider and bat (note: 'some' rather than 'many' shared: the results section adds 'this transcriptional convergence is limited, with more uniquely redeployed limb development genes in each species than those that are shared between them'.) |
| the sugar glider proper, Krefft's glider, and the savanna glider | P. breviceps (sugar glider), Petaurus notatus (Krefft's glider), and Petaurus ariel (savanna glider) |

## Cremona et al. (2020). Integrative taxonomic investigation ofPetaurus breviceps(Marsupialia: Petauridae) reveals three distinct species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa060

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| range of the species before its 2020 split | The Australian sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps s.l., is widely distributed across eastern and northern Australia. ... Herein, we confirm the existence of three distinct species (note: s.l. (sensu lato) is the species in its old, broad sense; ADW's range describes that broad species. 2020 is the paper's publication year (bibliographic metadata), not text in the abstract.) |
| One Species Became Three | Herein, we confirm the existence of three distinct species: P. breviceps, P. notatus comb. nov. and P. ariel comb. nov. (note: the heading summarises the split of the Australian gliders the body describes.) |
| the sugar glider was treated as a single species | The Australian sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps s.l., is widely distributed across eastern and northern Australia. ... Australian gliders currently recognized as Petaurus breviceps |
| a 2020 genetic and anatomical study split the Australian gliders into three | utilize an integrative taxonomic approach, combining genetic and morphological evidence, to resolve the taxonomy of Australian gliders currently recognized as Petaurus breviceps. Herein, we confirm the existence of three distinct species: P. breviceps, P. notatus comb. nov. and P. ariel comb. nov. (note: the 2020 publication year is bibliographic metadata (confirmed via audit:sources --cite), not text inside the abstract itself) |
| The study's authors note the old species was not listed as threatened because of its supposedly broad range | Given the purported broad geographic distribution of the taxon, P. breviceps s.l. was not listed as threatened |
| warn that splitting it has important conservation implications for all three | dividing this taxon into three species has important conservation implications for all taxa in the group ... Concerted and targeted conservation efforts are necessary to preserve these distinct, newly described species. |

## Campbell et al. (2019). The origin of exotic pet sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) kept in the United States of America. PeerJ.

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6180

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Eucalyptus sap, acacia gum, honeydew, and insects | Diet consists of the sap of Eucalyptus spp., Acacia spp. gum, leaves of host trees, invertebrates and honeydew produced by insects (note: insects narrows the source's 'invertebrates'; ADW names insects directly ('Their diet also includes pollen, nectar, insects and their larvae').) |
| all those sampled probably came from a source population near Sorong | Our analysis suggests that all of the USA sugar gliders sampled in this study have originated from a source population in the vicinity of Sorong, Indonesia |
| in Indonesia's West Papua | the USA sugar glider population originates from West Papua, Indonesia |
| A DNA study of pet gliders | samples collected from domestically kept sugar gliders within the USA |
| from seven US states | Samples were collected from seven states |
| with no sign of any harvested in Papua New Guinea or Australia | with no illegal harvesting from other native areas such as Papua New Guinea or Australia evident in the samples tested within this study |
| Sugar gliders were brought to the US for the exotic pet trade in the 1990s | The sugar glider was brought to the USA for the exotic pet trade in the 1990s |
| Australia had banned exporting them in 1982 | Australian sugar gliders were imported into the USA before exportation was banned in 1982 with the implementation of the Wildlife Protection Act (Regulation of Exports and Imports) 1982 (note: the 1982 Act is Australia's export law; the source's sentence is about Australian sugar gliders.) |