Journal article
The future is feces: using fecal genomic sequencing to understand dietary choices of an endangered arboreal marsupial, the Greater Glider ( Petauroides spp.)
Journal of Mammalogy, Vol.Advanced access
24-Sep-2026
Abstract
Understanding critical components of habitat use, such as dietary preferences, is crucial for creating and implementing effective conservation plans. This becomes challenging when species exhibit cryptic behaviors such as arboreality and nocturnality, as seen in the endangered Greater Glider (Petauroides spp.). Existing methods for determining Greater Glider diet are inadequate, time consuming and prone to human error. Furthermore, current literature lacks specificity, with most research stating simply that greater gliders are dietary eucalypt specialists, without providing additional insight into which species are eaten. Here, we tested a non-invasive technique using targeted sequencing of species-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms from Greater Glider fecal samples to identify dietary components across multiple locations in Southeast Queensland. Sequencing identified 17 plant species present in the fecal samples, including Angophora, Acacia, and Casuarina spp. that were previously unknown to be feed tree taxa, profoundly increasing our understanding of the habitat requirements of this endangered marsupial. Four of these identified species were out of range of their natural occurrence, suggesting limitations to the accuracy of this technique. This study demonstrates the value of using genomic sequencing for analyzing diets of arboreal mammals and makes recommendations for improving the accuracy of this methodology for future studies. Our findings highlight key tree species to be considered important for future Greater Glider conservation plans and raises the question of whether there are local drivers behind the differences in dietary choices across the landscape. Such information will be critical for Greater Glider conservation, particularly when management planning across multiple habitats.
Details
- Title
- The future is feces: using fecal genomic sequencing to understand dietary choices of an endangered arboreal marsupial, the Greater Glider ( Petauroides spp.)
- Authors
- Mikaela J Bratovic - University of the Sunshine CoastCeline H Frère - The University of QueenslandNicola Jackson - The University of QueenslandLinda Moss - University of the Sunshine CoastMichaela D J Blyton - The University of QueenslandDominique A Potvin (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Journal of Mammalogy, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- DOI
- 10.1093/jmammal/gyag085
- ISSN
- 1545-1542
- Copyright note
- © The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.
- Data Availability
- Relevant data is available on FigShare via https://figshare.com/s/b73947369db5ec61e1c2 and will be made public upon manuscript acceptance.
- Grant note
- We thank the City of Moreton Bay and the University of the Sunshine Coast for providing funding towards this project.
- Organisation Unit
- K'gari Research Cluster; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991264992902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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