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SPOTTED CUSCUS FACTS |
Description
The Spotted Cuscus has thick woolly fur and is variable in colour. The female is a creamy color and the male ranges from creamy-grey to orange-rust colour with irregular spots. Some juveniles are white. The skin is yellowish pink. It has very small ears and rim round the eyes. The strong claws are used for climbing.
Other Names
Common Spotted Cuscus, Spotted Phalanger
Size
head and body 35-45cm. Tail 32-43cm.
Habitat
Tropical rainforest, palm forest, also seen in dense freshwater mangroves. It is mostly nocturnal and makes a platform to rest during the day by pulling some twigs together.
Food
fruit, flowers, leaves. Captive animals eat some meat such as dog food.
Breeding
Usually one young reared. The young is carried on the mothers back for a few months once it leaves the pouch
Range
Far north of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. It is quite uncommon in Australia, but abundant in Papua New Guinea.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Notes
These animals are a food source for some tribes in Papua New Guinea. The cuscus is cooked on an open fire and eaten. In Australia the Aborigines used to hunt cuscus but this is rarely done now.
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Diprotodontia | | Family: | Phalangeridae | | Genus: | Spilocuscus | | Species: | maculatus | | Common Name: | Spotted Cuscus |
Relatives in same Genus
Black-spotted Cuscus (S. rufoniger)
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