Editing Feathertail glider (section)

==Description==
At just {{convert|6.5–8|cm|abbr=on}} in head-and-body length<ref name="ADW">{{cite web | url= http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/acrobates_pygmaeus/ | title= ''Acrobates pygmaeus'' feathertail glider | last1= Shiroff | first1= A. |date= 1999 | website= Animal Diversity Web | access-date= 1 May 2016}}</ref> and weighing about {{cvt|12|g|frac=8}}, the feathertail glider is only around the size of a small mouse, and is the world's smallest gliding mammal.<ref name="Harris2015" /> The fur is soft and silky, and is a uniform greyish brown on the upper body, and white on the underside. There are rings of dark fur around the eyes, the [[rhinarium]] is hairless and deeply cleft, and the ears are moderately large and rounded. The glider also has an unusually large number of [[whiskers]], sprouting from the snout and cheeks, and from the base of each ear.<ref name="Harris2015">{{cite journal | author = Harris, J.M. | date = July 2015 | title = ''Acrobates pygmaeus'' (Diprotodontia: Acrobatidae) | journal = Mammalian Species | volume = 47 | issue = 920 | pages = 32–44 | doi = 10.1093/mspecies/sev003| doi-access = free }}</ref>

Like other gliding mammals, the feathertail glider has a [[patagium]] stretching between the fore and hind legs. Only reaching the elbows and knees, this is smaller than that of the [[Petauridae|petaurid gliding possums]], although the presence of a fringe of long hairs increases its effective area. The tail is about the same length as the head and body combined, oval in cross-section, only slightly prehensile, and has very short fur except for two distinctive rows of long, stiff hairs on either side. This gives the tail the appearance of a feather or a double-sided comb. The hindfeet possess enlarged, opposable [[hallux|first digits]], which unlike all the other toes on both fore and hind feet, lack claws.<ref name="Harris2015" />

The tongue is long and thin, reaching as much as {{cvt|11|mm}}, and has numerous long [[lingual papilla|papilla]]e that give it a brush-like appearance. This improves the animal's ability to collect [[pollen]] and consume semi-liquid food.<ref name="Jackowiak2007">{{cite journal |author1=Jackowiak, H. |author2=Godynicki, S. | date = October 2007 | title = Light and scanning electron microscopic study on the structure of the lingual papillae of the feathertail glider (''Acrobates pygmeus'', Burramyidae, Marsupialia) | journal = The Anatomical Record | volume = 290 | issue = 11 | pages = 1355–1365 | doi = 10.1002/ar.20606|pmid=17929291 |s2cid=20355244 }}</ref> The structure of the ear is also unusual, since the animal possesses a unique bony disc with a narrow crescent-shaped slit just in front of the [[eardrum]]. The function of this bone is unclear, but it may act as a [[Helmholtz resonance|Helmholtz resonator]] and enhance sensitivity to certain frequencies of sound.<ref name="Aitkin1989">{{cite journal |author1=Aitken, L.M. |author2=Nelson, J.E. | date = 1989 | title = Peripheral and central auditory specialization in a gliding marsupial, the feathertail glider, ''Acrobates pygmaeus'' | journal = Brain, Behavior and Evolution | volume = 33 | issue = 6 | pages = 325–333 | doi = 10.1159/000115940|pmid=2765851 }}</ref> The brain has been recorded as weighing {{convert|360|mg|oz}}.<ref name="Harris2015" />

The female has two [[vagina]]e, which merge into a single sinus before opening into a [[cloaca]] together with the rectum. The pouch opens towards the front, as is common in [[diprotodont]] marsupials, and contains four teats.<ref name="Harris2015" />