A nocturnal arboreal marsupial, the mahogany glider is a species similar to the sugar glider, the squirrel glider and the yellow-bellied glider., but is different from the rest of the Petaurus family due to its larger size (26.5 cm long and 410g) and long tail (34–40 cm). Its tail is covered in short hair and usually has a black lower half. Also, this glider has a golden color rather than a grey colour on its mendulla section. It gets its name from its mahogany-brown belly and the mahogany colored gliding membrane, patagium.
These gliders are sexually dimorphic. The sex of a mahogany glider can be distinguished with the males being bigger than the female and usually having a bigger and wider head with a longer snout-vent. The females usually have a longer tail when looking at the ratio of tail length to body length.
The mahogany gliders make their dens in hollow trees (Eucalyptus platyphylla, E. tereticornis, Corymbia intermedia, and C. clarksonianna) lined with eucalyptus leaves, for sleeping and raising their young. They will either make their dens alone or in pairs. Each pair is shown to have 6-13 dens that they rotate living in, sharing some with offspring from the previous breeding season. These dens are marked and defended from other mahogany gliders. The pairs usually are monogamous, but some have been seen to partake in extra-pair matings.
The glider has a long breeding season with births starting April and ending in October. A glider can first breed at 12–18 months and can have one litter per year. However, if the first litter is lost then a secondary litter may occur. The mothers wean their young at four to five months.
reason for the mahogany glider’s being one of
Australia's threatened species is loss of habitat, with over 80% of habitat having been cleared for the growing of sugar cane, pine trees and banana crops, and also cleared for cattle. The mahogany glider's existence has been further endangered by the devastation to the region by Cyclone Yasi on 3 February 2011.
The mahogany glider was lost to science for over 100 years, until it was rediscovered in 1989. Unfortunately, the mahogany glider continues to live a precarious existence, as some farmers are continuing to clear the glider's habitat for farming purposes