# Sugar glider (*Petaurus breviceps*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/sugar-glider  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps), also called the coastal sugar glider, is a marsupial mammal in the family Petauridae and the order Diprotodontia. It is a small, nocturnal and arboreal omnivore with an adult body mass of 106.3 g, and up to 127.5 g. Gestation lasts 16.34 days, litters hold 2 young, there are 1.3 litters per year, and sexual maturity is reached at 367 days (1.0 years). Checklists record it in Australia, and the IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 106.3 g – 127.5 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 14 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 17.8 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 16.3 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 2 |
| Age at maturity | 9.13 months – 15 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.3 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Diprotodontia
- family: Petauridae
- genus: Petaurus
- species: *Petaurus breviceps* Waterhouse, 1838

## Countries on record

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.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is a sugar glider?

The sugar glider is a marsupial mammal in the family Petauridae, within the order Diprotodontia.

### How heavy is a sugar glider?

An adult sugar glider has a body mass of 106.3 g, with the highest value reported by our sources at 127.5 g.

### What does a sugar glider eat?

The sugar glider is an omnivore.

### Which countries is the sugar glider recorded in?

Checklists record the sugar glider in Australia.

### Is the sugar glider endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses the sugar glider as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a sugar glider live?

The sugar glider has a lifespan of 14 years, with the highest value reported by our sources at 17.8 years.

### How many young does a sugar glider have?

A sugar glider has 2 young per litter and 1.3 litters per year, after a gestation period of 16.34 days.

### Who named the sugar glider?

The sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps, was named by Waterhouse in 1838.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/sugar-glider