A “Sugar Glider” is a small marsupial in the same general family as a Kangaroo or Koala Bear.
They are originally from the rain forests of Australia and Indonesia, and have been domestically bred as household pets in the United States for the last 12-15 years.
They got the name “Sugar Gliders” because they:
They like to eat almost anything that is sweet, especially fresh fruit & vegetables, and they have a gliding membrane (similar to a flying squirrel) that stretches from their wrist to their ankles, allowing them to glide – not fly – from tree to tree.
In the wild they primarily live in trees in “colonies” of 10-15 other Gliders. Their “scientific” name: Petaurus Breviceps, and their specific Taxonomic Classification is:
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Suborder: Phalangerida
Family: Petauridae
Genus: Petaurus
Species: P. Breviceps
