NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Coppery Brush-tailed Possum
Trichosurus johnstonii (Ramsay, 1888)
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.
Coppery Brushtail Possum
Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The coppery brushtail possum (Trichosurus johnstonii) is a species of marsupial possum in the family Phalangeridae. Coppery brushtails are found within the Atherton Tablelands area of Queensland, in northeastern Australia. These mammals inhabit rainforest ecosystems, living within the tree canopy. Though they have a restricted distribution, they are locally common. This population is often considered a subspecies of T. vulpecula.
Wikipedia contributors, Coppery brushtail possum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:44:21.578121+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Trichosurus johnstonii (Ramsay, 1888)
- Name authority
- (Ramsay, 1888)
- Common name
- Coppery 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.
- 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
- superfamilyPhalangeroidea Thomas, 1888
- familyPhalangeridae Thomas, 1888
- subfamilyTrichosurinae Flynn, 1911
- genusTrichosurus Lesson, 1828
- speciesTrichosurus johnstonii (Ramsay, 1888)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Trichosurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Common Brush-tailed PossumTrichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792) | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-eared Brush-tailed PossumTrichosurus caninus (Ogilby, 1835) | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain Brush-tailed PossumTrichosurus cunninghami Lindenmayer, Dubach & Viggers, 2002 | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Phalangista johnstonii Ramsay, 1888 Ramsay, 1888 | 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=709436 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.
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:58L2T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.