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Spotted phalanger, spotted cuscus - PHALANGER MACULATUS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Cuscus": Probably from the native New Guinea word for the animal. "Phalanger" means "web-footed."
Location: Northernmost peninsula of Cape York, Australia and New Guinea.
Habitat: Arboreal, preferring the tropical rain forest.
Description: The cuscus is a lemurlike possum with a strong prehensile tail which is naked over the distal half. It has small ears and beady eyes. Its fur is thick and woolly, a gray to rust color, often with cream or white blotches along the sides. Indeed, sometimes the entire animal is nearly white. Head and body length is about 25", and its weight is about 13 lb.
Behavior: The cuscus is the largest of the possums. It is a slow-moving, sluggish animal, a bit larger than a house cat, and strictly arboreal in habit. By day it rests in a tree, curled up among dense foliage or in a hollow. At night the cuscus meanders through the trees, browsing among the leaves or eating the fruit. Occassionally it will attack and devour a small bird or reptile. Man is its principal enemy of the cuscus, since the natives of New Guinea like to eat them.
Reproduction: The cuscus is thought to breed throughout the year rather than during a single seasonal. The gestation is reported to be about 13 days when two to four babies may be born, but with only one eventually surviving in the pouch.
Go to the Marsupials Page, to get a general discussion of these animals.
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