These variations of the natural gray line include the white face, white tip, leucistic, and mosaic. Several color variations have been described and accepted as “standard” mutations. Although there has not been thorough genetic testing on these variations, some genetic trends have been realized by applying Mendel’s laws of heredity to well-documented breeding programs. Sugar gliders have become available in a variety of colors through selective genetic breeding in recent years. 29-4), and paracloacal scent glands ( Fig. Dominant males mark territory and group members with secretions from androgen-sensitive frontal (forehead) ( Fig. They have five toes on their hind feet, with an opposable first digit and syndactyly of the second and third digits ( Fig.
26 Being a nocturnal prey species, sugar gliders have large, protruding, widely spaced eyes. Gliding distances are reported to be as long as 50 m.
Body length ranges from 16 to 21 cm and tail length from 16.5 to 21 cm. Although average body weight varies among the subspecies, typical adult males weigh between 100 and 160 g and females between 80 and 130 g. There are at least seven recognized subspecies of sugar gliders. Like American flying squirrels (Glaucomys volaris, Glaucomys sabrinus), sugar gliders have a patagium (gliding membrane) that stretches between their front and hind legs (Fig. Wild sugar gliders have soft, velvety fur that is gray, with a central black stripe dorsally it is cream-colored ventrally. 4 Measurement of the tympanic temperature is another means of determining core body temperature. The rectal temperature is usually 97.3☏ (36.3☌). 1, 4, 8, 10 True rectal temperature in marsupials can be measured by directing the thermometer dorsally into the rectum from within the cloaca. Cloacal temperature is lower than the actual body temperature the average cloacal temperature being 89.6☏ (32☌). 1 The cloaca is a common terminal opening of the rectum, urinary ducts, and genital ducts. The normal heart rate of a sugar glider is 200 to 300 beats per minute the respiratory rate is 16 to 40 breaths per minute. The metabolism of marsupials is approximately two-thirds that of placental (eutherian) mammals. Their absence may be an adaptation to gliding, which reduces skeletal weight. These small bones are thought to provide an attachment for muscles that support the pouch. The female sugar glider has a pouch containing four teats, in which she raises one or two young.Įpipubic bones (ossa marsupialia or eupubic bones) are unique to certain marsupials, but they are diminished or absent in gliders. The pouch is absent in males and in female South American short-tailed opossums, which are considered to be more primitive marsupials. The degree of pouch enclosure is dependent on the species. Marsupials are best known for possessing a pouch, in which the female raises its young.
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