Cinereus Ringtail Possum
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The Daintree River ringtail possum (''Pseudochirulus cinereus''), also known as the cinereus ringtail possum, is a species of possum found in northeastern
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It was long believed to be the same as the Herbert River ringtail possum (''P. herbertensis''), but has recently been separated. The two species differ considerably in appearance. The Daintree River ringtail possum is a cinnamon or brown colour, and has been said, like the lemuroid ringtail possum (''Hemibelideus lemuroides''), to resemble a
lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...
. It is found in montane tropical
rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
in three separate populations just north of
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
: on Carbine Tableland, Mount Windsor Tableland and Thornton Peak massif.


References

Possums Mammals of Queensland Mammals described in 1945 Taxa named by George Henry Hamilton Tate {{Diprotodont-stub