cuscus

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cuscus

any of several large nocturnal phalangers of the genus Phalanger, of N Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, having dense fur, prehensile tails, large eyes, and a yellow nose

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Cuscus

any one mammal of the genus Phalanger of the family Phalangeridae. The body is 30–65 cm long, the tail, 25–60 cm. The coloring varies from white and gray to reddish brown and black. There are seven species, which are distributed in Australia (Cape York) and on New Guinea and neighboring islands west to Sulawesi. Cuscuses are arboreal animals, and they move slowly. They use their sharp claws and muscular, prehensile tails for climbing. They are nocturnal, sleeping in the daytime in dense tree crowns or tree hollows. Cuscuses feed on fruits and leaves as well as insects, birds, and birds’ eggs. There are one or two young in a litter.

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It includes threatened and endangered species such as the spotted cuscus and green tree python.

Cape York wilderness area under indigenous management

The modern Timorese fauna is completed by a New Guinean cuscus (Phalanger orientalis) introduced in the early Holocene, and a suite of Asian domesticates and commensals, all introduced since the mid-late Holocene (Glover 1986).

A matter of balance: an overview of Pleistocene occupation history and the impact of the Last Glacial Phase in East Timor and the Aru Islands, eastern Indonesia

Wacky Fact: The marsupial cuscus spends so much time sitting, even while eating and sleeping, that fur on the backside is sometimes worn into a bald spot.

Wild and Weird

For example, this Dani man from the Pegunungan Jayawijaya mountains in Irian Jaya is pleased with his catch, a specimen of cuscus (Phalanger), a small marsupial of the wet forests of Insulindia and the islands of the Strait.

2 Humans in the cloud forests

For a spotted cuscus, life in the slow lane is just right!

Koala cousins

These include the spotted cuscus, palm cockatoo and eclectus parrot.

Let's take about World Heritage for Cape York Peninsula: it's hard to believe that despite its unique environmental and living cultural heritage, Cape York Peninsula is not on the international World Heritage list

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