Feathertail glider
Acrobates pygmaeus (Shaw, 1793)
The feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) is a species in the family Acrobatidae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh 12 g to 13 g and live up to 7.97 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the feathertail glider
- Weight
- 12 g – 13 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.97 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 8.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 7.88 months – 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src 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 feathertail glider 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 feathertail glider 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 feathertail glider?
The feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus), also known as the pygmy gliding possum, pygmy glider, pygmy phalanger, flying phalanger and flying mouse, is a species of marsupial native to eastern Australia. It is the world's smallest gliding mammal and is named for its long feather-shaped tail.
A second species, the broad-toed feathertail glider (Acrobates (Dromicia) frontalis, De Vis 1887) is recognised by some authors based on unpublished genetic studies and cryptic morphological differences in toe and tail characteristics. With this recognition, it is suggested that Acrobates pygmaeus takes the common name narrow-toed feathertail glider.
From the Wikipedia article “Feathertail glider” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feathertail_glider&oldid=1356680422), 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 feathertail glider endangered?
The feathertail glider 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 feathertail glider classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderDiprotodontia
- familyAcrobatidae
- genusAcrobates
- SpeciesAcrobates pygmaeus (Shaw, 1793)
Synonyms Acrobates pygmea, Didelphis pygmaea
Other names and names in other languages (28)
- Feather-tail gliderEnglish
- Feather-tailed gliderEnglish
- Feather-tailed gliderEnglish
- Narrow-toed feather-tailed gliderEnglish
- Narrow-toed feather-tailed gliderEnglish
- Pygmy gliderEnglish
- Pygmy gliding possumEnglish
- Pygmy gliding possumEnglish
- منزلق ضيق الأصابع ريشي الذيلArabic
- vakoplšík létavýCzech
- MausflugbeutlerGerman
- Australischer ZwerggleitbeutlerGerman
- MausgleitbeutlerGerman
- Schmalfuß-Federschwanz-GleitbeutlerGerman
- ZwerggleitbeutlerGerman
- Acróbata PigmeoSpanish
- Falangero de Cola Emplumada DediestrechoSpanish
- pósum pigmeo acróbataSpanish
- pussiakrobaattiFinnish
- チビフクロモモンガJapanese
- FlygepungmusNorwegian Bokmål
- Vliegende BuidelmuisDutch
- Akrobatka karliczaPolish
- akrobatka karliczkaPolish
- Gambá-planador-cauda-de-plumaPortuguese
- Planador-Cauda-de-PlumaPortuguese
- Карликовый летучий кускусRussian
- wubinxdk
Relatives of the feathertail glider
Other species in the same genus Acrobates.
De Vis's feathertail glider
Acrobates frontalis
CompareFeathertail glider vs De Vis's feathertail gliderFeathertail glider vs Acrobates pulchellus
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the feathertail glider?
An adult feathertail glider weighs 12 g – 13 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the feathertail glider live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the feathertail glider for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the feathertail glider endangered?
The feathertail glider is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the feathertail glider live?
The feathertail glider has a recorded lifespan of 7.97 years.
What kind of animal is the feathertail glider?
The feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus) belongs to the family Acrobatidae 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). Feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/feathertail-glider
“Feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/feathertail-glider.
@misc{feathertail_glider_2026,
title = {Feathertail glider (Acrobates pygmaeus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/feathertail-glider},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}