Green ringtail possum

{{Short description|Species of marsupial}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Green ringtail possum{{MSW3 Groves|pages=53}}

| image = Green ringtail possum on August 2023.jpg

| status = NT

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Woinarski, J. |author2=Burbidge, A.A. |date=2019 |title=Pseudochirops archeri |volume=2019 |page=e.T18502A21962719 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T18502A21962719.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}

| genus = Pseudochirops

| species = archeri

| authority = (Collett, 1884)

| range_map = Green Ringtail Possum area.png

| range_map_caption = Green ringtail possum range

| synonyms = Phalangista archeri

}}

The green ringtail possum (Pseudochirops archeri) is a species of ringtail possum found only in northern Australia. This makes it unique in its genus, all other members of which are found in New Guinea or nearby islands. The green ringtail possum is found in a tiny area of northeastern Queensland, between Paluma and Mount Windsor Tableland.{{cite book | last = Menkhorst | first = Peter | year = 2001 | title = A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia | publisher = Oxford University Press | page = 98}}

File:PhalangistaArcheriSmit.jpg

The green ringtail possum gets its name from its fur, which does indeed have a greenish tinge. In reality the fur is olive grey, but it is grizzled with silver, yellow and black hairs, which makes it appear green. It is nocturnal, solitary, and arboreal. It feeds mostly on leaves and is one of the few species that can eat the leaves of the stinger plant (Dendrocnide moroides) which can cause extreme pain with human casualties needing to be hospitalised.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1071/BT98006| year = 2000| last1 = Hurley| first1 = M.| title = Growth dynamics and leaf quality of the stinging trees Dendrocnide moroides and Dendrocnide cordifolia (Family Urticaceae) in Australian tropical rainforest: Implications for herbivores| journal = Australian Journal of Botany| volume = 48| issue = 2| pages = 191}} It also engages in a practice called coprophagy, where an animal eats its own faeces.{{citation needed|date = November 2007}}