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phalanger (fuh-LAN-jer) - n., any of several arboreal marsupials of Australia (family Phalangeridae), having prominent ears, dense fur, and a furry, prehensile tail.
Includes the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and other close relatives -- all often locally called possums (note that they are of a different order from the New World possums, though named after them -- which means we use an Virginia Algonquian word for Australian critters). The name arrived in English in the 1770s, but dictionaries disagree whether it comes from Greek phalang-, the combining form of phálanx, after the interesting bones of the hind feet, or from Greek phalaggion, spider's web, from webbed in their hind feet.
---L.
Includes the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and other close relatives -- all often locally called possums (note that they are of a different order from the New World possums, though named after them -- which means we use an Virginia Algonquian word for Australian critters). The name arrived in English in the 1770s, but dictionaries disagree whether it comes from Greek phalang-, the combining form of phálanx, after the interesting bones of the hind feet, or from Greek phalaggion, spider's web, from webbed in their hind feet.
---L.
