They are covered in soft, pale grey to brown fur, which is lighter in color on their underside. The sugar glider is endemic to mainland Australia, Indonesia, and New Guinea and its surrounding islands.

The animal launches itself from a tree, spreading its limbs to expose the gliding membranes. This creates an aerofoil enabling them to glide 50 meters or more. For every 1.82 m travelled horizontally when gliding, sugar gliders fall 1m. Sugar gliders can steer by moving their limbs and adjusting the tension of their gliding membrane; for example, to turn left, a sugar glider will lower its left forearm below its right. How cool is that?! Gliding serves as an efficient means of both locating food and evading predators.