Greater gliders not as great at gliding as thought – but still look like magic carpets, experts say
News Source
•Wed, 15 Jul 2026 15:01:00 GMT
📰 What Happened
The first study to measure the aerial ability of Australia's largest gliding marsupial, the greater glider, has found they soar an average distance of just 19 metres — far shorter than the 100-metre estimate from an 85-year-old study. Researchers from the Australian National University tracked 41 flights using infrared binoculars, lasers and tape measures in New South Wales forests.
🔍 The Backstory
Greater gliders are the largest gliding marsupials in Australia, but the 'greater' in their name actually refers to their body size, not their gliding ability. Until now, the widely accepted figure of 100 metres came from a single 85-year-old study that had never been rigorously replicated. The species is listed as endangered, threatened by habitat loss from logging and bushfires. Conservation efforts rely on understanding how far these animals can travel between trees to maintain genetic connectivity across fragmented forests. The study, published in Australian Mammalogy, documented the longest flight at just under 50 metres, with gliders typically launching from about 22 metres above the ground.
🎯 Why It Matters
The findings have significant implications for conservation planning and forest management, as protected habitat corridors may need to be closer together than previously assumed to ensure greater glider populations can survive and connect. It challenges a long-held scientific assumption and demonstrates the importance of empirically testing even well-established ecological beliefs.
The first study to measure the aerial ability of Australia's largest gliding marsupial, the greater glider, has found they soar an average distance of just 19 metres — far shorter than the 100-metre estimate from an 85-year-old study. Researchers from the Australian National University tracked 41 flights using infrared binoculars, lasers and tape measures in New South Wales forests.
Greater gliders are the largest gliding marsupials in Australia, but the 'greater' in their name actually refers to their body size, not their gliding ability. Until now, the widely accepted figure of 100 metres came from a single 85-year-old study that had never been rigorously replicated. The species is listed as endangered, threatened by habitat loss from logging and bushfires. Conservation efforts rely on understanding how far these animals can travel between trees to maintain genetic connectivity across fragmented forests. The study, published in Australian Mammalogy, documented the longest flight at just under 50 metres, with gliders typically launching from about 22 metres above the ground.
The findings have significant implications for conservation planning and forest management, as protected habitat corridors may need to be closer together than previously assumed to ensure greater glider populations can survive and connect. It challenges a long-held scientific assumption and demonstrates the importance of empirically testing even well-established ecological beliefs.