Short-eared Brush-tailed Possum

Open encyclopedia reference

The short-eared possum (Trichosurus caninus) is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae, endemic to Australia. Found north of Sydney, New South Wales, on Australia's eastern coast, the species was once classed under the mountain brushtail possum, its closest relative.

In the wild, they can live for up to 17 years (possibly longer in captivity), maintain a stable territory, and invest significant energy and time rearing their young.

Short-eared possums are most commonly found along the southeastern coast of the Australian continent, where they reside in wet rainforests and humid, dense thickets.

Wikipedia contributors, Short-eared possum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:17:13.161647+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Trichosurus caninus (Ogilby, 1835)

Name authority

(Ogilby, 1835)

Common name

Short-eared Brush-tailed Possum

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Diprotodontia

Family

Phalangeridae

Genus

Trichosurus

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
11. orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
12. suborderPhalangeriformes Szalay in Archer, 1982
13. superfamilyPhalangeroidea Thomas, 1888
14. familyPhalangeridae Thomas, 1888
15. subfamilyTrichosurinae Flynn, 1911
16. genusTrichosurus Lesson, 1828
17. speciesTrichosurus caninus (Ogilby, 1835)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Trichosurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 24 records assigned to Phalangeridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552695 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:58L2R. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.