Cuscus

'''Cuscus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʌ|s|k|ʌ|s}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|uː|s|k|uː|s}}) is a common name given to the species belonging to four genera of Australasian possums in the family Phalangeridae: ''Ailurops'', ''Phalanger'', ''Spilocuscus'', and ''Strigocuscus''.<ref name=HMW>{{cite book |editor1-last=Wilson |editor1-first=Don E. |editor2-last=Mittermeier |editor2-first=Russell A. |editor1-link=Don E. Wilson |editor2-link=Russell Mittermeier |year=2015 |title=Handbook of the Mammals of the World Volume 5: Monotremes and Marsupials |chapter=Family Phalangeridae (Cuscuses, brush-tailed possums and scaly-tailed possum) |publisher=Lynx Edicions |location=Barcelona, Spain |pages=456–497 |isbn=978-84-96553-99-6 |oclc=914158646}}</ref> The name comes from the word ''kusu'' or ''kuso'' in some local related languages spoken in the Maluku Islands like Bacan and Ambonese Malay.<ref>See: *Flannery, Tim (1995). ''Mammals of The South West Pacific and Moluccan Islands''. Sydney: Australian Museum. * van der Zon, A.P.M (1979). ''Mamalia of Indonesia''. UNDP-FAO Park Development Project.</ref> It is also applied in parts of Indonesia to the Sunda slow loris, where people do not distinguish this from the "kuskus" possums. The loris, being a primate, is unrelated to the other cuscus species. Cuscus are marsupials, even though they have some appearances, traits and attributes like those of lemurs of Madagascar, which are prosimians,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-08-21|title=Common spotted cuscus a marsupial furball|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2014/08/common-spotted-cuscus/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Australian Geographic|language=en-AU}}</ref> due to convergent evolution.

{| class="wikitable" | colspan="4" style="text-align: center;" | '''Cuscuses''' |- ! Image !! Genus !! Species !! {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |- |150px |''Ailurops'' Wagler, 1830 | *Talaud bear cuscus, ''Ailurops melanotis'' (Temminck, 1824) *Sulawesi bear cuscus, ''Ailurops ursinus'' (Thomas, 1898) |<ref name=HMW/>{{rp|485–486}} |- |150px |''Phalanger'' Storr, 1780 | *Gebe cuscus, ''Phalanger alexandrae'' Flannery and Boeadi, 1995 *Mountain cuscus, ''Phalanger carmelitae'' Thomas, 1898 *Ground cuscus, ''Phalanger gymnotis'' (Peters and Doria, 1875) *Eastern common cuscus, ''Phalanger intercastellanus'' Thomas, 1895 *Woodlark cuscus, ''Phalanger lullulae'' Thomas, 1896 *Blue-eyed cuscus, ''Phalanger matabiru'' Flannery and Boeadi, 1995 *Telefomin cuscus, ''Phalanger matanim'' Flannery, 1987 *Southern common cuscus, ''Phalanger mimicus'' Thomas, 1922 *Northern common cuscus, ''Phalanger orientalis'' (Pallas, 1766) *Ornate cuscus, ''Phalanger ornatus'' (Gray, 1860) *Rothschild's cuscus, ''Phalanger rothschildi'' Thomas, 1898 *Silky cuscus, ''Phalanger sericeus'' Thomas, 1907 *Stein's cuscus, ''Phalanger vestitus'' (Milne-Edwards, 1877) |<ref name=HMW/>{{rp|489–493}} |- |150px |''Spilocuscus'' Gray, 1862 | *Admiralty Island cuscus, ''Spilocuscus kraemeri'' (Schwartz, 1910) *Common spotted cuscus, ''Spilocuscus maculatus'' (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) *Waigeou cuscus, ''Spilocuscus papuensis'' (Desmarest, 1822) *Black-spotted cuscus, ''Spilocuscus rufoniger'' (Zimara, 1937) *Blue-eyed spotted cuscus, ''Spilocuscus wilsoni'' Helgen & Flannery, 2004 |<ref name=HMW/>{{rp|495–497}} |- |150px |''Strigocuscus'' Gray, 1862 | *Sulawesi dwarf cuscus, ''Strigocuscus celebensis'' (Gray, 1858) *Banggai cuscus, ''Strigocuscus pelengensis)'' (Tate, 1945) |<ref name=HMW/>{{rp|486}} |}

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Mammal common names Category:Possums