As we all know, the Australian bush fire which happened earlier this year left more than a billion animals dead.

Not all is lost, though.

Recently, two new greater glider species were discovered in the country.

If you're unfamiliar with greater gliders, they're actually nocturnal gliding marsupials that feed almost exclusively on Eucalyptus leaves and buds.


According to a report in Mothership Singapore, the discovery of the two new species occured following a study on the genetic diversity of greater gliders.

Three and not just one species

During the study, experts discovered that there are three distinct species of greater glider throughout the country.

Petauroides volans were found in the south, Petauroides minor in the north and Petauroides armillatus in the central region.

Not much is known as yet about the two newly discovered species, Petauroides minor and Petauroides armillatus.
The study, which was conducted because of climate change and the damaging bushfires also showed that the population of the animal had been on an "alarming" decline with "localised" population extinctions happening in the past 20 years.

Now, efforts are being put in place to better understand and conserve the species.

Let's hope that all this helps with increasing their population.