NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pygmy Ring-tailed Possum
Pseudochirulus mayeri (Rothschild & Dollman, 1932)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pygmy ringtail possum (Pseudochirulus mayeri) is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in the montane forest regions of Papua New Guinea and West Papua, Indonesia. They are "widespread along the Central Cordillera" and live at elevations between 1,500 and 3,600 metres (4,900 and 11,800 ft) above sea level."
Pygmy ringtails are herbivores or "arboreal folivores" that eat pollen, lichen, fungus and "epiphytic moss." P. mayeri also eat the bark of trees, which provides them with calcium and potassium. They have "large incisor" teeth which help with "clipping forage from plants" and have "selenodont molars" that help with "shredding ingested foliage." They have "an enlarged cecum that acts as a fermentation chamber" and allows "gut bacteria to breakdown [sic] plant tissue." The extra retention time allows the pygmy ringtail to obtain more nutrients from the ingested forage.
Wikipedia contributors, Pygmy ringtail possum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:48:07.421227+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pseudochirulus mayeri (Rothschild & Dollman, 1932)
- Name authority
- (Rothschild & Dollman, 1932)
- Common name
- Pygmy Ring-tailed Possum
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Family
- Pseudocheiridae
- Genus
- Pseudochirulus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
- suborderPhalangeriformes Szalay in Archer, 1982
- superfamilyPetauroidea Bonaparte, 1838
- familyPseudocheiridae Winge, 1893
- subfamilyPseudocheirinae Winge, 1893
- genusPseudochirulus Matschie, 1915
- speciesPseudochirulus mayeri (Rothschild & Dollman, 1932)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pseudochirulus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Weyland Ring-tailed PossumPseudochirulus caroli (Thomas, 1921) | PseudocheiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Masked Ring-tailed PossumPseudochirulus larvatus (Förster & Rothschild, 1911) | PseudocheiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arfak Ring-tailed PossumPseudochirulus schlegeli (Jentink, 1884) | PseudocheiridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pseudocheirus mayeri Rothschild & Dollman, 1932 Rothschild & Dollman, 1932 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=709427 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4NTF3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.