Bigfish and Don, can you tell us how to distinguish between Petaurus notatus and P. breviceps? I know the Sugar Gliders (previous P. breviceps) have been split into 3 genetically different species but I'm not aware of the morphological features that distinguish them. Several members of our group including myself wondered...
Hi Waltraud, DNA is the answer to yr Q. But Kreffts is to west of the Great Dividing Range, and Sugar to East. (I would much prefer species to have visible differences but it seems that the creator did not care about that.)
Yes it does mean that Waltraud, in theory. But this is a common issue for all kinds of organisms and the experts know to make allowance for the changes so no one is going back to change the earlier ones in CNM as far as I know.
Isn't Kreft on the western side (eg ACT) with it's range overlapping into the range itself and even east of it, whereas Sugars seem to be predominantly eastern?
"Krefft’s glider has a clearly defined dorsal stripe and fluffy tail. It is widespread in eastern Australia and has been introduced to Tasmania.
The sugar glider, with a less-defined dorsal stripe, is apparently restricted to forests east of the Great Dividing Range, extending from southeast Queensland to around the border of New South Wales and Victoria."