Critique on logo design for map based app

I’m American. I know what a Sugar Glider is. I am older though, that may be a factor. :)

Yes I “got it” when view it immediately. I figured, given the name, sugar glider makes sense. However, I don’t know how accurate the image is. In most cases, prior to this question, I couldn’t spot a sugar glider on sight and know that’s what it was unless I saw it gliding. I know they sort of look like a mix of squirrel and chipmunk to a degree. I (incorrectly) thought they were more of a solid grey. So I did google to see sugar glider images.

My comments…

• I dislike the gradient. But that’s more personal preference – or pet peeve. Gradients such as these, I feel, are “shortcuts” to try and FORCE something to look interesting which you don’t feel actually IS interesting.
• If one looks at images of sugar gliders, the head stripe pattern in your artwork is incorrect. Most Sugar Gliders appear to have large, dark, eyes and a prominent black stripe down the middle of the forehead/back. You’ve used smaller eyes and some “nose stripe” which is inconsistent with apparently biology. I saw no image with nose bridge stripes in my searching.
• The mouth is far too prominent in the artwork. Almost all the images I saw the mouth was fairly indistinguishable. It’s the very pointed head and large eyes that, to me, convey the animal best.
• The neck is far too long. The head basically sits on the shoulders without any prominent neck.
• I think a far more dynamic pose could be used. One which conveys the “glider” aspect more by showing the webs of skin the Sugar Glider uses for gliding. Something more like:
  
  There’s so much one could convey if you think “motion” more. After all, if “gliding” is the conceptual connection, you should show the gliding to convey movement and motion. To be, perhaps a bit more blunt, you’ve used possibly the most boring pose one could use for a very dynamic creature.
• I had no clue what it was holding. I don’t perceive (still don’t) a map pin in the hands, even though I know that’s what it’s supposed to be. You’ve cut off the bottom “pin” part and it merely looks like a circle or perhaps a “key” to some degree. To convey a map pin you really kind of need to convey the entire shape.
• I do like the change in weight for the typeface. And I think it’s a decent font – although somewhat forgettable. Beyond that, there’s not much to the type aspect if the gradient were removed.