Study Finds Greater Gliders Average 19-Metre Glides, Not 100 Metres

Australian researchers have found that greater gliders cover an average distance of 19 metres in flight, far less than the 100 metres reported in an 85-year-old study. The Guardian reported that the team tracked 41 flights in New South Wales forests with infrared binoculars, lasers and tape measures, recording launch and landing heights, horizontal distance and glide angle.

The findings were published in Australian Mammalogy.

Lead author Dr Ana Gracanin, a conservation biologist at the Australian National University, said the term “greater” refers to the animals’ body size rather than their gliding range. The longest flight recorded was just under 50 metres, with gliders launching from an average height of 22 metres and landing at about 5 metres.

Greater gliders use a membrane stretching from their elbows to their ankles to stay aloft.

Gracanin described one launch as the animal spreading its limbs and flying overhead “like a magical flying carpet”. The researchers said taller trees might allow longer glides but questioned whether the species regularly achieves 100-metre distances.

The 1941 paper most likely referred to a yellow-bellied glider, which covers 40 metres on average and has been observed gliding up to 145 metres, The Guardian reported.

Squirrel gliders typically cover about 12 metres. Greater gliders are listed as endangered and spend their lives in the forest canopy, relying on continuous tree cover to travel and forage for eucalyptus leaves. Dr Benjamin Wagner, an expert in greater glider habitats at the University of Melbourne who was not an author of the paper, said the findings have practical implications for conservation.