Yellow-bellied glider brain (Petaurus australis)

Family Petauridae

The brain of the yellow-bellied glider is about 5.7 ml in volume.  The cerebral hemispheres are relatively large and cover the midbrain roof and part of the cerebellum.  The functional areas of the cerebral cortex have not been assessed physiologically, so the labelling of S1, V1 and Au1 in the accompanying illustrations is putative based on cellular patterns in neuronal (Nissl) stained specimens from the Nelson collection.  Petaurus australis has an S1 barrel-field and well-developed trigeminal somatosensation, so exploration of its environment using facial vibrissae is an important behavioural feature of this species.  The cerebellum is foliated and the cerebellar hemispheres are elaborate, indicating expansion of the cerebro(ponto)cerebellar circuitry for complex learned motor behaviour.