Common ringtail possum
Pseudocheirus peregrinus (Boddaert, 1785)
The common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) is a species in the family Pseudocheiridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh 859.3 g to 900 g and live up to 8 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the common ringtail possum
- Weight
- 859.3 g – 900 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1.95src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12.1 monthssrc 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 ringtail 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 ringtail possum is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the common ringtail possum?
The common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus, Greek for "false hand" and Latin for "pilgrim" or "alien") is an Australian marsupial.
The possum lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers, fruits and sap. It also consumes caecotropes, which are material fermented in the caecum and expelled during the daytime when it is resting in a nest. This behaviour is called caecotrophy and is similar to that seen in rabbits.
The possum carries its young in a pouch, where it develops for 120–130 days before leaving. They are affected by land clearing, which destroys their habitat. The red fox is an introduced invasive species and predator that negatively impacts the possum.
From the Wikipedia article “Common ringtail possum” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_ringtail_possum&oldid=1376928582), 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.
Is the common ringtail possum endangered?
The common ringtail possum is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common ringtail possum classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderDiprotodontia
- familyPseudocheiridae
- genusPseudocheirus
- SpeciesPseudocheirus peregrinus (Boddaert, 1785)
Synonyms Didelphis peregrinus
Other names and names in other languages (26)
- Common ring-tailed possumEnglish
- Common ring-tailed possumEnglish
- Common ringtailEnglish
- Common ringtailEnglish
- Eastern ring-tailed possumEnglish
- Queensland ringtailEnglish
- Queensland ringtailEnglish
- Ring-tailed possumEnglish
- possum vlnitýCzech
- Östlicher RingelschwanzbeutlerGerman
- Κοινό Δαχτυλιδόουρο ΠόσουμGreek
- falangero de cola anilladaSpanish
- Falangero de Cola Anillada OrientalSpanish
- pussioravaFinnish
- Possum à queue en anneauFrench
- Opossum à queue en anneauFrench
- gyűrűsfarkú erszényesHungarian
- Coda ad anello comuneItalian
- Opossum coda ad anello comuneItalian
- ハイイロリングテイルJapanese
- Vanlig RinghalepossumNorwegian Bokmål
- Oostelijke KoeskoesDutch
- Pałanka wędrownaPolish
- Pseudopałanka wędrownaPolish
- Possum-Cauda-de-AnelPortuguese
- Обыкновенный кольцехвостый кускусRussian
Relatives of the common ringtail possum
Other species in the same genus Pseudocheirus.
Ngwayir
Pseudocheirus occidentalis
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the common ringtail possum?
An adult common ringtail possum weighs 859.3 g – 900 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the common ringtail possum live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the common ringtail possum for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the common ringtail possum endangered?
The common ringtail 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 ringtail possum live?
The common ringtail possum has a recorded lifespan of 8 years.
What kind of animal is the common ringtail possum?
The common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) belongs to the family Pseudocheiridae in the order Diprotodontia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-ringtail-possum
“Common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-ringtail-possum.
@misc{common_ringtail_possum_2026,
title = {Common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-ringtail-possum},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}