brushtail possum

• brush-tailed possum

From brush + tail (originally tailed) + possum. See brushtail.

brushtail possum (plural brushtail possums)

1. Any nocturnal, arboreal, Australian possums of the genus Trichosurus, having furred tails with a naked tip.
   • 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber, published 2003, page 56:

     The southerly caught the tree and tipped it. It fell with a crash, pinning a large brush-tailed possum to the ground.

   • 1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 67:

     A brush-tailed possum wanders close, and with his rifle scope he traces its outline […] .

   • 2005, Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, Life of Marsupials, page 229:

     There are 22 species in the family, the commonest being the brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Fig. 7.5d, Plates 12 and 13), in Australia and the northern common cuscus, Phalanger orientalis, in New Guinea.

• brushtail

• northern brushtail possum