Welcome to the possum research page
This page is very much in its infancy, as the research has not yet began. Honours student, Peter Crowcroft, is due to commence at the start of March 2005.
In 2005, honours student Peter Crowcroft will be attempting to investigate how airborne dust affects the feeding behaviour and activity patterns of common ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus). Unlike grazers (which eat grass and generally have continuously growing teeth), browsing (those that consume leaves) mammals are not usually exposed to high levels of abrasive materials in their diets. Consequently, browsing mammals have not had the need to evolve teeth that can withstand high levels of wear. However, recent research (on koalas) has illustrated that tooth wear can impose severe limitation on the feeding behaviour and even activity patterns of browsing mammals.
Unsealed roads represent a large source of airborne dust and grit that can accumulate on the surfaces of the foliage that adjoins the roadway (particularly in the warmer, dryer months). This is expected to add additional abrasiveness to the roadside food. Although roadsides (and other clearings) are often perceived as offering a different quality of food (perhaps a better quality of food) as a result of the extra light available to this vegetation, the extra dust loads may make the food less attractive. Peter is going to track a number of possums in areas of high dust load and compare them to possums in areas of low dust areas. In particular, he will be examining how their movement/ranging patterns and feeding behaviour (chewing rates and number of times they chew per leaf and per 24 h) alter in relation to dust loads.
