Genetic Evidence Confirms Two New Greater Glider Species

The bushfires in Australia have gotten worse every year, destroying the lives and homes of many species. However, with researchers paying more attention to preserving the nation's wildlife, it led to the DNA confirmation of two new greater glider species.

Gliders are small marsupials known to leap at great distances up to 450 feet. Their limbs have membranes that allow them to glide like parachutes while they use their tails as a rudder to shift direction mid-air.

The tiny sugar gliders have become an increasingly popular exotic house pet. Meanwhile, the two new species recently identified are greater gliders, the largest glider species endemic to Australia. Once common and abundant, the bushfires have greatly threatened their existence due to their specialized diet of eucalyptus leaves "and obligate dependence on mature trees with large hollows for shelter," wrote the authors.

Three Distinct Greater Glider Speices

Scientists described the two species in the journal Scientific Reports. Greater gliders have been generally identified as Petauroides volans. P. v. minor and P. v. volans has been listed as subspecies based on their body size, fur color, and geographic distribution.

For the first time, researchers confirm genetic evidence of three distinct P. Volans species, resurrecting the subspecies name P. armillatus first described in 1923. The two greater glider species P. minor and P. armillatus have been controversial due to the lack of published evidence.

During the study, the researchers studied 63 greater gliders across five locations, including museum specimens. Body mass was the most distinct differences between the three species, wrote the authors. They also determined three main regions - Northern, Central, and Southern - where morphological differences were most distinct, such as the tail, ear, and body length as well as fur color.

(Photo : Greater gliders from the northern (t.left), central (b.left) and southern (right). Denise McGregor/Jasmine Vink)

Genetic Evidence

Genetic evidence supported more than two new distinct species. For example, in Queensland, they discovered hybrids between two genetic groups. This is mostly likely the result of the Genetic Species Concept or when two species are genetically but not reproductively isolated, allowing for hybridization, the researchers wrote.

Kara Youngentob from the Australian National University said that confirming the multiple greater glider species "reduces the previous widespread distribution of the original species." The lack of information on greater gliders raises more concerns in preserving the endangered species.

A previous study analyzed the factors that caused the decline of greater gliders in the Blue Mountains. They found no evidence that the species were impacted by the increase of owls, cockatoos, bushfires, or rainfall 20 years before 2018.

Rather, increased temperature due to climate change and tree clearing had affected the species. It is only in recent years that the bushfires have affected the habitat of greater gliders.

Denise McGregor from James Cook University said for years, researchers have speculated that there were other greater glider species aside from the P. Volans, "but now we have proof from the DNA." Youngentob added that this means that we barely know anything about the two newly identified species. "If we don't start working them out we could end up losing them."

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