Talk:Phalangeriformes

Phalangeriformes???

Why is this article called Phalangeriformes??/ The creature is called a possum. That's what it is commonly known as. In Australia, they are everywhere, they would never be called Phalangeriformes. It seems a bit bizarre to call the article by this title, and confusing to the user. Deathlibrarian (talk) 13:10, 8 March 2019 (UTC) Wikipedia policy on article titles should see this article as "possum" or may be to stop it being confused with the US Opposum "Possum (Australian)"

I second the retitle to the correct Possum. SPNKs (talk) 03:10, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

I agree possum is the common name --Spacepine (talk) 14:30, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Yes, except no, because not all members of Phalangeriformes are known as "possums," i.e., cuscuses and sugar gliders.--Mr Fink (talk) 14:52, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

That's fair, I came here following links and thought this was a poorly named general page for Possums. I see now that possum information has been delegated to Common brushtail possum (but not Brushtail possum) and Ringtail possum. Given this page used to be called Possum (and the incoming links reflect that) I suspect this confuses a number of people.

However, fixing it would take some signficant restructuring, link fixes across other articles and creating a new page Possum (Australia)(?), and I'm not invested enough to do any of that. Best of luck to whoever chooses to take this on. --Spacepine (talk) 13:19, 7 May 2019 (UTC)

America?

Possums are really common to North America. I don't know what the subspecies is called. But you see them all the time. And I've accidentally run over them at times. I've seen them in both Oregon and New York. They must have been introduced from Australia but they are now well established on the north american continent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.233.148.2 (talk) 05:04, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

That's the Virginia opossum. It's commonly called a possum, but it's not closely related to the true possums which this article talks about. They are both marsupials, but they are in entirely different orders.92.12.21.65 (talk) 14:28, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

I cannot follow how "possum" is technically incorrect for the American animal when the Australian critter derived its name from the American one. Seems backward to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.92.79.239 (talk) 13:57, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Because the American animal is named Opossum and the Australian one Possum. It would be like if a new animal was named a "Lephant" because it looked like an Elephant.Mandurahmike (talk) 01:37, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Species

The first sentence reads as though there are only about 60 possums in Australia, rather than about 60 species of possum. Snottygobble 05:39, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Fixed. - UtherSRG (talk) 06:26, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Is it worth considering http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/biodiversity/possums.html as an external link? 203.63.92.105 03:00, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Proposed merger

Oppose. One of the silliest ideas I've ever heard. Snottygobble 03:43, 8 June 2006 (UTC) Bugger this. I'm going to speedy close this as just plain wrong. They're not even in the same order. Snottygobble 03:46, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Important comment on this page

"An open compost bin in a backyard becomes an enticing smorgasbord for a hungry urban possum"

Lol.

USian Possum

The non-native Virginia Opossum was a little hard to find from this page. Should this be fixed? I didn't know Opossums were native to Australia myself Thadk 06:00, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

The Virginia Opossum is mentioned in the first paragraph, that's pretty clear. Also, opossums aren't native to Aus, possums are. --liquidGhoul 07:59, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Relation to Opossums

I've deleted "unlike most names applied to Australian fauna in the early years of European colonisation, happens to be accurate: the opossums of America are distant relatives". While they are distantly related by the fact that they are both marsupials, the name is still not accurate and it's a point of confusion for too many people. You might as well say that "hedgehog" is an accurate name because hedgehogs are distantly related to pigs (they're both placental mammals after all). Rwestera (talk) 00:11, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Clarification would be nice, though. I don't understand it after reading both articles.--Mainstreetmark (talk) 03:41, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Protection of Possums

The article states that possums are protected, but this is not the case in all parts of the world. Perhaps the regions where the possum *are* protected should be specified? They aren't where I live. And they don't taste bad either. :P --TaranRampersad 16:09, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Do note the difference between possum and opossum. Note the conservation status noted on each species page, as well as the geograpihic habitat noted in the text of each species' article. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:18, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

"Possums in Popular Culture"?

There should be a "Possums in Popular Culture" section to mention things like the childrens book "Possum Magic" and Dame Edna Everage's catchphrase "Hello possums!". Candy-Panda 06:28, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

• Be Bold--ZayZayEM 03:58, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

What do you call a baby possum?

What do you call a baby possum? A joey? A kitten? A cub? A kit? A pup?--ZayZayEM 03:58, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

A joey. Hesperian 03:58, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Omnivores, no! Herbivores, yes

Hello, I removed the section that states that "All possums are omnivorous". My correction was removed. All possums are not omnivorous. This article looks foolish when just one paragraph later two possums are linked to in the statement "The two most common species of possums, the Common Brushtail and Common Ringtail, are also among the largest." In both articles about these possums it is stated that they are herbivores. If I can't make the correction then please sort it out yourself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.228.90.99 (talk) 01:12, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Food

Possums eat fruit and other good sources of calcium! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.70.11.152 (talk) 03:20, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Size of Possums

I compared the larger possums to a 'well-fed domestic cat' because I've never seen one 120cm (4 feet) long! Maybe they grow bigger in other parts of Australia. Pavium (talk) 07:23, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Extinction? Which species?

I removed the following:

The white lemuroid possum, only found in the mountain forests of northern Queensland, has been named as the first mammal species to be driven extinct by man-made global warming. The White Possum has not been seen in over three years. These possums cannot survive extended temperatures over 30 degrees C, which occurred in 2005. A final expedition to uncover any surviving White Possums is scheduled for 2009. ref: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24742053-952,00.html White possum said to be first victim of global warming]

First off, this is a news reference and, as such, is not a very reliable source for science info. Second, which species does this info refer to? There is no "White Lemuroid Possum" in the species listing. The closest is the Lemur-like Ringtail Possum, which is also called the "Lemuroid Ringtail Possum". there is the same reference used on that article. This species is Near Threatened and has two forms, a white one and a brown one. The white form has not been seen in 3 years, a match to the article's information and so perhaps this is what the news article was referring to. If so, it was not a species extinction, but a population extinction. - UtherSRG (talk) 18:09, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

References

How serious is [2] http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/Australia/ besides being funny? 93.203.183.252 (talk) 00:58, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Vandalism

This page seems to be a favorite for repeated vandalism. Does someone think it would help to protect or semi-protect the article so continual vandalism reverts can be avoided? Otr500 (talk) 03:29, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Image

I've reverted the image back to the File:Brushtail possum.jpg image, since it shows the possum with clear lighting and allows the reader to see the possum's characteristics clearly. This image allows the reader to gain a better understanding of what a possum looks likes, as compared to File:Possum in Sydney, Australia on 11.11.2008.jpg, since the possum is partially hidden and the lighting doesn't allow us to see it clearly. Thoughts? Netalarm^talk 06:25, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

My thoughts are that a user who has had issues with my work in the past has brought up my contributions, and removed an image in an article he had no prior business with. I won't discuss another image disputed in bad faith, not from the contributors to the article. I am waiting to see what administration has to say and decide, if anything, on the issue of harassment concerning the user. If the case is resolved, I'll restore the image, if not, I'll delete it, but it's not the main issue. Editor182 (talk) 07:38, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

I thought that the image you contributed of the Brushtail Possum on the campus rooftop in Sydney was a very good and very clear one. It the present image of two possums is decided to be retained, could your image of the Brushtail possum please still be included somewhere on the page, rather than it being deleted. Thanks. Another suggestion is for the image to be included on the Common Brushtail Possum article. Figaro (talk) 07:55, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Keep in mind we already have two high quality images (the one in the infobox is featured) for Common Brushtail Possum... a 3rd image on such a small article is probably uncalled for. No reason to delete it, but it's inclusion may not also be called for since we have clearly better images of the species (Featured pictures, for example). — raekyt 08:07, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Oh yes yes, I'm sure you knew all about the species and so on and so forth before you saw that I added it. Editor182 (talk) 08:15, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Just saying if we're going to illustrate the species, this image trumps this image. — raekyt 08:18, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Couldn't you have left it to one of the article regulars to suggest that? Anyway, I'm not discussing another image exhaustively thanks to your actions. Editor182 (talk) 08:28, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

The photo of the Brushtail Possum on the campus rooftop in Sydney, contributed by Editor182, would illustrate, perfectedly, the paragraph (on the Common Brushtail Possum page) of the Brushtail Possum as a city dweller (something neither of the photos on the Common Brushtail Possum page do.) Figaro (talk) 08:32, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

That's a valid argument, but I'd much rather see the article expanded further, as it is now theres more space taken up by pictures than text on the article, so it would be hard to justify the addition of another image... as for the removal of the non-featured image and replaced with Editor182's picture, that case could be made.. Would be prudent to review all the images on Commons for the species to see if we have anything better to illustrate it in an urban environment though. — raekyt 08:37, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Clearly the original infobox image is excellent for this article, and the proposed new image is not suitable for use anywhere in this article or in Common Brushtail Possum. Johnuniq (talk) 09:38, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Question: Why isn't this fantastic image not the lead image of this article? - Amog | ^{Talk • contribs} 13:15, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

I don't know.. it could be. — raekyt 14:42, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

I have boldly made the change. Also, the original lead image was repeated in the body of the article. - Amog | ^{Talk • contribs} 14:46, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Possum attacks

I have heard that possum attacks are the number one reason for a day off work in Australia. Why is this not mentioned in the article? Sure this is an important thing to tell about this subject. -128.214.214.34 (talk) 10:30, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

This is nonsense. I am an Australian and I have never heard of such an excuse. Where did you hear it? Figaro (talk) 07:36, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Phalangeriformes/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

This really needs an expert to correct the inaccuracies that litter the article. Comments about diets, weights, size and names are all incorrect.

Last edited at 10:10, 21 July 2009 (UTC). Substituted at 03:16, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 26 September 2016

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Moved. Possum to Phalangeriformes and Possum (disambiguation) to Possum. Note, due to +500 links redirect here I'll take some time to fix incoming links before moving it. (non-admin closure) © Tbhotch^™ (en-2.5). 04:40, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

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• Possum → Possum (Australasia), Phalangeriformes, etc.
• Possum (disambiguation) → Possum

– This is a long time coming, but simply put, this is not the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC of the term "Possum". Possum is also commonly used for "Opossum", and is what Canadian, American, and many other readers are really looking for when searching for that term (and indeed, that's the origin of the name of Australian possums). Opossum gets more page views than Possum, and it's likely that a lot of hits for "Possum" are actually looking for the other. The incoming links show many misdirected links intending opossum, and the comments in the previous sections show confusion going back 10 years. Other disambiguation options for the Australasian possums are available, but to avoid confusion the dab page should be at the base name Possum. Cúchullain ^t/c 16:23, 26 September 2016 (UTC)--Relisting. —  AjaxSmack  04:43, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

• Support move to Phalangeriformes. Phalangeriformes isn't the primary topic of "possum" globally. I'm not sure that it's even the best choice of for the title "possum" in an Australasian context. From what I'm finding, this group of animals includes species that are called both "possums" and "gliders" in Australia, and Phalangeridae covers most of the animals that are called "possums" in Australia (animals called cuscus in this article are also called "possums" in Australia). In New Zealand contexts, "possums" are one of two? invasive species, particularly the common brushtail possum. And in Australia, the common brushtail is the most common possum in developed areas and most likely to be encountered by humans. And in North American contexts, there's only one possum/opossum species, the Virginia opossum. Move the dab page to the "possum" title. On the dab page, mention more of the articles, which depending on context, might be what somebody searching for "possum" is looking for. Plantdrew (talk) 04:59, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, Phalangeriformes sounds like it might be the best bet. It looks like there are some gliders that aren't considered "possums" so it's probably best to have a broader article to include all of them.--Cúchullain ^t/c 13:38, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

I've edited Possum (disambiguation) to account for more of the articles possibly intended in Australasian contexts. I intend to put Phalangeriformes in the dab as "possums and gliders" (contrasted to Phalangeridae as "possums and cuscuses") if the move goes through and we stop treating Phalangeriformes as the primary topic of "possum". Plantdrew (talk) 03:41, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Aren't Phalangeridae under Phalangeriformes? Either way, I'm convinced that the article should be at Phalangeriformes as it discusses animals that aren't really considered "possums".--Cúchullain ^t/c 04:03, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Yes, Phalangeridae are under Phalangeriformes. Many of the incoming links to possum are national parks in Australia that are home to "possums" (not specified further). I haven't looked at the ranges of all Phalangeriformes species yet, but many of the ones that aren't in family Phalangeridae are native to New Guinea, Indonesia, or have a very restricted range in Australia. Common ringtail possum might be the only non-Phalangeridae possum that has a somewhat broad range in Australia. I think some of the links to possum in Australian contexts could be narrowed down to Phalangeridae from Phalangeriformes, but certainly not all of them (and I think Australian readers are most likely specifically looking for common brushtail possums when they type possum, but without a source that specifies that species, I wouldn't want to point incoming links to possum there). Plantdrew (talk) 15:43, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Paraphyletic Phalangeriformes

@Trilletrollet: I've noticed your recent edits on the paraphyly of Phalangeriformes. The Phalangeriformes in MSW3 has two superfamilies, Phalangeroidea and Petauroidea, so I assume it is this arrangement that is paraphyletic. Some newer treatments (e.g. the ASM's MDD) have moved Petauroidea into Macropodiformes, which again I assume is a response to the paraphyletic definition. I haven't looked at the recent literature, so this is more a question. —  Jts1882 | talk  07:23, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

@Jts1882: I didn't even know the MDD listed suborders; I'll have to look into that. The expanded definition of Macropodiformes doesn't seem to be widely accepted in the literature yet, in any case. —Trilletrollet [ Talk | Contribs ] 12:57, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

It's in the downloadable spreadsheet. They now included suborder, infraorder, parvorder and superfamily. I thought it was listed in the taxonomy section of the species pages, but now I double-check the recently added taxon levels are not listed yet.

If you want to see their full taxonomy, I have a web page where you can preview it (at least version 1.3; I haven't updated to version 1.4). The little green icon symbols show the species pages. You can compare their taxonomic tree with the MSW3 tree by checking the option Treeview of MSW3. —  Jts1882 | talk  13:25, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

Opossums

@UtherSRG: Please see the reference I provided in which it is noted that "opossum" can refer either to the American animals or to the Australasian ones. Zacwill (talk) 12:29, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Please see the list of species in the article. Point to even one that is called "opossum". We don't need to promulgate mistaken terminology. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:31, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Noting that an alternative name exists is not "promulgating mistaken terminology". In any case, I'm not sure how one term is any more "mistaken" than the other – both terms originally referred to Didelphis virginiana, which is only distantly related to the species discussed in this article. Zacwill (talk) 12:38, 12 December 2024 (UTC)