CreatureData

Common brushtail possum

Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792)

LCLeast Concernmarsupials

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a species in the family Phalangeridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh 2.01 kg to 2.65 kg and live up to 14.7 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Photo: Andrew Mercer (www.baldwhiteguy.co.nz) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the common brushtail possum

Weight
2.01 kg – 2.65 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
14.7 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
15.9 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
17.3 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1.01src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
12.1 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the common brushtail possum live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The common brushtail possum is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the common brushtail possum?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula, from the Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus Phalangista) is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Australia and invasive in New Zealand, and the second-largest of the Australasian possums.

Like most possums, the common brushtail possum is nocturnal. It is mainly a folivore, but has been known to eat small mammals such as rats. In most Australian habitats, eucalyptus leaves are a significant part of the diet, but rarely the sole item eaten. Its tail is prehensile and naked on its lower underside. The four colour variations are silver-grey, brown, black, and gold.

It is the Australian marsupial most often seen by city dwellers, as it is one of few that thrive in cities and a wide range of natural and human-modified environments. Around human habitations, common brushtails are inventive and determined foragers with a liking for fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and kitchen raids. Its once vast distribution has been greatly affected by drought, epizootic disease and intrusion of invasive mammals into its habitat.

The common brushtail possum was introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s to establish a fur industry, but in the mild subtropical climate of New Zealand, and with few to no natural predators, it thrived to the extent that it became a major agricultural and conservation pest.

From the Wikipedia article “Common brushtail possum” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_brushtail_possum&oldid=1376183563), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

What does the common brushtail possum sound like?

Alhadis · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the common brushtail possum endangered?

The common brushtail possum is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the common brushtail possum classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderDiprotodontia
  5. familyPhalangeridae
  6. genusTrichosurus
  7. SpeciesTrichosurus vulpecula (Kerr, 1792)

Synonyms Didelphis vulpecula, Phalangista vulpina

Other names and names in other languages (48)
  • Australian brushtail possumEnglish
  • Brush-tailed possumEnglish
  • Brushtail possumEnglish
  • Common brush-tailed possumEnglish
  • Common brush-tailed possumEnglish
  • Common brushtailEnglish
  • Common brushtailEnglish
  • PossumEnglish
  • Silver-gray brushtail possumEnglish
  • Silver-gray brushtail possumEnglish
  • Silver-grey possumEnglish
  • Silver-grey possumEnglish
  • Tree bearEnglish
  • Virldaadt
  • WolstertpossumAfrikaans
  • أبوسوم ذيل الفرشاة الشائعArabic
  • kusu liščíCzech
  • PungrævDanish
  • FuchskusuGerman
  • Gewöhnlicher FuchskusuGerman
  • ΔενδροπόσουμGreek
  • Posúm de cola de escobaSpanish
  • Cuscús de Cola de CepilloSpanish
  • Pósum de cola de cepilloSpanish
  • KettukusuFinnish
  • Phalanger RenardFrench
  • Phalanger BlanchâtreFrench
  • פוסום אוסטרלי כסוף-אפורHebrew
  • közönséges rókakuzuHungarian
  • Tricosuro volpinoItalian
  • フクロギツネJapanese
  • PaihamaMāori
  • PaihamuMāori
  • KusuNorwegian Bokmål
  • PungrevNorwegian Bokmål
  • VoskoesoeDutch
  • Pałanka kuzuPolish
  • kitanka lisiaPolish
  • Cusu-comumPortuguese
  • Possum-cauda-de-EscovaPortuguese
  • Лисий кузуRussian
  • pungrävSwedish
  • rävkusuSwedish
  • พอสซัมบรัชเทลธรรมดาThai
  • คอมมอนบรัชเทลพอสซั่มThai
  • Кузу лисячийUkrainian
  • buruminxdk
  • 帚尾袋貂Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the common brushtail possum

Other species in the same genus Trichosurus.

CompareCommon brushtail possum vs Short-eared possumCommon brushtail possum vs Mountain brushtail possumCommon brushtail possum vs Coppery brushtail possumCommon brushtail possum vs Trichosurus abnerrangemassacre

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the common brushtail possum?

An adult common brushtail possum weighs 2.01 kg – 2.65 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the common brushtail possum live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the common brushtail possum for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the common brushtail possum endangered?

The common brushtail possum is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the common brushtail possum live?

The common brushtail possum has a recorded lifespan of 14.7 years.

How long is the common brushtail possum pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 17.3 days.

What kind of animal is the common brushtail possum?

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) belongs to the family Phalangeridae in the order Diprotodontia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-brushtail-possum

MLA

“Common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-brushtail-possum.

BibTeX
@misc{common_brushtail_possum_2026,
  title = {Common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-brushtail-possum},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}