Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Museums

Regional Maps

CAVS: 1159

Species Tarsipes rostratus Gervais & Verreaux, 1842

Honey Possum

 

Distribution

States

Western Australia


IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IBRA

WA: Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Coastal, mellivore, nocturnal, open forest, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Common in sandplain heathland.

 

General References

Collins, B.G., Wooller, R.D. & Richardson, K.C. 1988. Torpor by the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae), in response to food shortage and low environmental temperature. Australian Mammalogy 11: 51-57

Cummins, J.M., Temple-Smith, P.D. & Renfree, M.B. 1986. Reproduction in the male honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus: Marsupialia): the epididymus. American Journal of Anatomy 177: 385-402

Du Plessis, J. & Du Plessis, A. 1995. Observations on honey possums. Western Australian Naturalist 20: 49-50

Hayman, D.L. & Sharp, P.J. 1982. The chromosomes of Tarsipes spencerae Gray (Marsupialia). Australian Journal of Zoology 30: 799-803

Kratzing, J.E. 1982. The anatomy of the rostral nasal cavity and vomeronasal organ in Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae). Australian Mammalogy 5: 211-219

Landwehr, G.G., Richardson, K.C. & Wooller, R.D. 1990. Sugar preferences of honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae) and western pygmy possums, Cercatetus concinnus (Marsupialia: Burramyidae). Australian Mammalogy 13: 5-10

Nagy, K., Meienberger, C., Bradshaw, S.D. & Wooller, R.D. 1995. Field metabolic rate of a small marsupial mammal, the honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus). Journal of Mammalogy 76: 862-866

Oates, J.E., Bradshaw, F.J. & Bradshaw, S.D. 2004. The influence of photoperiod on the reproductive activity of female honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae): assessed by faecal progestagens and oestradiol-17β. General and Comparative Endocrinology 139: 103-112

Renfree, M.B. 1980. Embryonic diapause in the honey possum Tarsipes spencerae. Search 11: 81 (reproduction)

Renfree, M.B. 1995. Honey Possum Tarsipes rostratus. pp. 258-260 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Renfree, M.B., Russell, E.M. & Wooller, R.D. 1984. Reproduction and life history of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus. pp. 427-437 in Smith, A. & Hume, I. (eds). Possums and Gliders. Sydney : Surrey Beatty & Sons, Australian Mammal Society 598 pp.

Richardson, K.C., Wooller, R.D. & Collins, B.G. 1984. The diet of the honey possum Tarsipes rostratus. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 9: 110-113

Richardson, K.C., Wooller, R.D. & Collins, B.G. 1986. Adaptations to a diet of nectar and pollen in the marsupial Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae). Journal of Zoology, London A 208: 285-298

Rosenberg, H.I. & Richardson, K.C. 1995. Cephalic morphology of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia, Tarsipedidae) - an obligate nectarivore. Journal of Morphology 223: 303-323

Russell, E.M. 1986. Observations on the behaviour of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae) in captivity. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 121: 1-63

Russell, E.M. 1986. Observations on the behaviour of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae) in captivity. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 121: 1-63

Russell, E.M. & Renfree, M.B. 1989. Tarsipedidae. pp. 769-782 in Walton, D.W. & Richardson, B.J. (eds). Fauna of Australia. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1B 827 pp.

Slaven, M.R. & Richardson, K.C. 1988. Aspects of the form and function of the kidney of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus. Australian Journal of Zoology 36: 465-471

Turner, V. 1984. Banksia pollen as a source of protein in the diet of two Australian marsupials Cercartetus nanus and Tarsipes rostratus. Oikos 43: 53-61

Withers, P.C., Richardson, K.C. & Wooller, K.D. 1990. Metabolic physiology of euthermic and torpid honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus. Australian Journal of Zoology 37: 685-693

Wooller, R.D. 1984. Reproduction in Antechinomys laniger ('spenceri' form) (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae): field and laboratory investigations. Australian Wildlife Research 11: 481-489

Wooller, R.D., Renfree, M.B., Russell, E.M., Dunning, A., Green, S.W. & Duncan, P. 1981. Seasonal changes in a population of the nectar-feeding marsupial Tarsipes spencerae (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae). Journal of Zoology, London 195: 267-279

Wooller, R.D., Richardson, K.C. & Collins, B.G. 1993. The relationship between nectar supply and the rate of capture of a nectar-dependent small marsupial Tarsipes rostratus. Journal of Zoology, London 229: 651-658

Wooller, R.D., Russell, E.M., Renfree, M.B. & Towers, P.A. 1983. A comparison of seasonal changes in the pollen loads of nectarivorous marsupials (Tarsipes) and birds (honeyeaters). Australian Wildlife Research 10: 311-317

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
29-Oct-2010 29-Oct-2010 MOVED
12-Feb-2010 (import)