Nature Atlas

How Nature Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Specy

Mountain cuscus

Mammals

The mountain cuscus, Phalanger carmelitae, is a nocturnal, arboreal marsupial in the family Phalangeridae that lives in undisturbed montane forest at 1,350 to 3,800 m in the central mountain ranges and on the Huon Peninsula of New Guinea, in both West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1898, has two recognised subspecies, and was once treated as a subspecies of Stein's cuscus. Adults are 37 to 43 cm long, weigh 1.7 to 2.6 kg and have dark woolly fur with a white belly. About 80 percent of the diet is leaves and 18 to 20 percent fruit. It is hunted for food and loses habitat to subsistence farming, but it is abundant where unhunted and is listed as Least Concern, with a stable population.

Facts
Classification
Diet
Herbivore 1
Population Trend
Stable 1
System (Realm)
Terrestrial 1
Threats
Agriculture and Aquaculture 1
Threats
Biological Resource Use 1
Relationship to People
Hunted or Fished 1
Living or Extinct
Yes 1
Conservation Status
Least Concern 1
Body Size Band
Medium 1
Activity Pattern
Nocturnal 1
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Phalanger, Taxa
Source Mountain cuscus (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Mountain cuscus (Wikipedia)Lead
Quote, Lead
The mountain cuscus (Phalanger carmelitae) is a marsupial in the family Phalangeridae found throughout the central mountain ranges and Huon Peninsula of New Guinea, in both West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Mountain cuscus (Wikipedia)Lead, where it lives
Quote, Lead, where it lives
found throughout the central mountain ranges and Huon Peninsula of New Guinea

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Mountain cuscus (Wikipedia)Lead
Quote, Lead
The mountain cuscus (Phalanger carmelitae) is a marsupial in the family Phalangeridae found throughout the central mountain ranges and Huon Peninsula of New Guinea, in both West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Sources
1. Mountain cuscus (Wikipedia)
  • Lead
    The mountain cuscus (Phalanger carmelitae) is a marsupial in the family Phalangeridae found throughout the central mountain ranges and Huon Peninsula of New Guinea, in both West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
  • Human interactions
    The mountain cuscus is currently listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
  • Behavior
    The population trend is considered stable.
  • Behavior, activity pattern
    The mountain cuscus is nocturnal and arboreal
  • Diet
    The mountain cuscus is primarily a leaf-eater, with leaves making up around 80% of its diet.
  • Human interactions, relationship to people
    The mountain cuscus is hunted by local people for food throughout much of its range.
  • Human interactions, threats
    mostly through deforestation for subsistence agriculture
  • Description
    weighs 1.7-2.6 kg
  • Habitat and environment
    It prefers undisturbed primary forest
  • Lead, where it lives
    found throughout the central mountain ranges and Huon Peninsula of New Guinea
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.