 In 2002 it was discovered that the originally named Mountain brush-tailed possum of Australia actually consists of two separate species.Due to taxonomic rules, the northern population has been renamed with the common name short-eared possum but will keep the scientific name "Trichosurus caninus", while the southern population has been named with the common and scientific names mountain brush-tailed possum ("Trichosurus cunninghami").This is because the original type specimen of the species was from the northern population, and therefore must keep the original scientific name.