Honey Possum: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Australian Mammals · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. Apart from some bats, the honey possum is the only mammal that lives entirely on nectar, plus pollen from flowers.
2. The tip of its long tongue is covered in tiny bristles, like a brush. It wipes it rapidly through flowers to mop up nectar and pollen.
3. As it hops from plant to plant, pollen sticks to its head. It can carry that pollen to the next flower better than the birds that visit them.
4. Unlike most mammals, it sees in three colours, as primates do. Its eyes are good at spotting bright yellow banksia flowers.
5. Its newborns are the smallest of any mammal: each weighs just 0.005 g.

The quiz

1. Besides some bats, which mammal lives entirely on nectar?

• The koala
• The quokka
• The wombat
• The honey possum (correct)

It is the only fully nectar-eating mammal that is not a bat.

2. What is special about the tip of the honey possum's tongue?

• It is forked like a snake's
• It is sticky like a frog's
• It has bristles like a brush (correct)
• It glows in the dark

Bristle-like bumps get longer toward the tip and gather nectar and pollen.

3. How does the honey possum help plants?

• By carrying pollen on its head (correct)
• By planting seeds in burrows
• By eating harmful insects
• By digging up the soil

Pollen on its head is carried from flower to flower, more effectively than by birds.

4. How does the honey possum's colour vision compare to most mammals?

• It sees only black and white
• It sees three colours, like primates (correct)
• It sees the same two colours
• It is completely blind

It has three-colour vision, while most mammals have two.

5. How much does a newborn honey possum weigh?

• 0.005 g (correct)
• 5 g
• 50 g
• 0.5 kg

At 0.005 g, its babies are the smallest newborns of any mammal.

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