Description

Activity patterns. The Little Pygmy Possum is nocturnal and presumably nests in similar locations to the other species of Cercartetus. Little Pygmy Possums are known to shelter in a variety of locations including tree hollows, within tree logs and stumps, under loose pieces of bark, in cavities excavated by fire, under fronds of grass trees (Xanthorrhoea sp.), between dead inflorescences of Banksia, within leaves of the grass Triodia sp., and in abandoned bird nests. They are highly active and efficient climbers that traverse within the understory among the shrubs and heath rather than the higher canopy where they may be more susceptible to predation by owls.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Diprotodontia

Family: Burramyidae

Genus: Cercartetus

Species: Cercartetus lepidus (Thomas, 1888)