Petaurus breviceps Waterhouse, 1839 . Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1838:152 [1839].

TYPE LOCALITY: Australia, New South Wales .

DISTRIBUTION: SE South Australia to Cape York Peninsula (Queensland), Tasmania (introduction), N Northern Territory, NE Western Australia; New Guinea and adjacent small islands, including Bismarck Arch.; Aru Isis and N Moluccas (Indonesia).

STATUS: Common.

SYNONYMS: ariel, biacensis, flavidus, kohlsi, longicaudatus, notatus, papuanus, tafa.

COMMENTS: See Smith (1973, Mammalian Species, 30). McAllan and Bruce (1989) argued that the original publication of this name was in The Athenaeum, 580:880 [8 Dec 1838].