Common Spotted Cuscus

“A baby cuscus stays in its mother’s pouch for up to 7 months”

The common spotted cuscus is a large possum that lives in the tropical lowland forests in New Guinea. This animal is a herbivore with a diet of different types of leaves. A female has a pouch for carrying its young like a kangaroo. The pronunciation of cuscus sounds like cuss-cuss. This animal lives up to 11 years old in the wild.

5 Incredible Cuscus Facts!

• There are 26 species of these marsupials.
• The cuscus is an animal that can live up to 11 years in the wild.
• Because this animal eats a diet of leaves it is sometimes called a folivore.
• Predators of these animals include eagles, pythons, and humans.
• These marsupials are 20 to 22 inches in length.

Scientific Name

Spilocuscus maculatus is the scientific name for a common spotted cuscus. The word maculatus is Latin meaning spotted while spilocuscus is the genus of this animal. Another name for this animal is white cuscus. It belongs to the Phalangeridae family and the class Mammalia.

Types Of

There are over 20 species of these marsupials of which 5 species belong to the genus spilocuscus.

• Admiralty Island cuscus (Spilocuscus)
• Blue-eyed spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus)
• Waigeou cuscus (Spilocuscus)
• Black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus)
• Common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus)
• Ground cuscus (Phalanger)
• Northern common cuscus (Phalanger)
• Sulawesi dwarf cuscus (Strigocuscus)
• Banggai cuscus (Strigocuscus)
• Sulawesi bear cuscus (Ailurops)
• Talaud bear cuscus (Ailurops)
• Ornate cuscus (Phalanger)
• Stein’s cuscus (Phalanger)
• Southern common cuscus (Phalanger)
• Eastern common cuscus (Phalanger)
• Mountain cuscus (Phalanger)
• Silky cuscus (Phalanger)
• Telefomin cuscus (Phalanger)
• Woodlark cuscus (Phalanger)
• Rothschild’s cuscus (Phalanger)
• Gebe cuscus (Phalanger)

Evolution And Origin

The common spotted cuscus is a species of marsupial from the Phalangeridae family. The Phalangeridae is traced back to the Miocene era, having originated in the rainforests of Australia. When land masses began to appear, cuscuses began to break off from Australia to new regions, including New Guinea, and they were further broken down into additional groups, which consists of Ailurops and Strigocuscus in one grouping and Phalanger, and Spilocuscus in the second grouping.

Appearance And Behavior

The male common spotted cuscus is an animal with thick, brownish-red fur with white splotches while females have gray or white fur without any spots.

This animal weighs from 6 to 13 pounds. Their body length ranges from 20 to 22 inches. A 13-pound cuscus weighs the same as a gallon can of paint. A 21-inch-long animal is equal in length to one and a half bowling pins.

This marsupial’s hairless tail measures from 12 to 17 inches long. The animal uses its tail to grasp the branches of a tree to help it climb.

One of the most interesting facts about them is they can have eyes that are blue, red, or orange depending on their species. In addition to having colorful eyes, they have vertical pupils. This gives their eyes an appearance similar to that of a snake or a cat. The design of the animal’s eyes allows it to see at night.

This animal has long nails on its feet that help it to climb trees and move from branch to branch in the treetops. They also use their nails for grooming.

The largest species of cuscus is the Sulawesi bear cuscus. They get their name from their thick coat resembling a bear’s fur. This marsupial weighs up to 15 pounds.

The smallest member of the cuscus family (Phalangeridae) is the Small Sulawesi cuscus. It weighs a little over 2 pounds.

The common spotted cuscus hides from predators among the leaves and branches in its environment. This is its main defense against threats.

These marsupials are solitary animals. Normally, they are shy creatures and try to stay hidden most of the time. However, a male can become aggressive if another male enters its territory. Males mark their territory using a liquid sprayed from their scent glands. Also, they lick twigs and sticks within their territory as a signal for another cuscus to stay away.

If one male enters another male’s territory, the animal occupying the territory may kick, bite or hiss at the trespassing marsupial.

Habitat

These animals live in New Guinea as well as Cape York in Australia. Specifically, they live in trees in tropical forests, hardwood forests, and mangroves. Cuscus that live in mangroves migrates to tropical forests for the winter season.

These marsupials build homes in the hollows of trees or create platforms or nests high in the treetops where they can sleep.

They live in a warm, wet climate. The animal may sit under a large collection of leaves to cool off when it’s extremely hot. Or they sometimes crawl into a hollow log for shade during the hottest part of the day.

Diet

What Does A Cuscus Eat?

These animals are herbivores and eat leaves and fruit. Some biologists refer to cuscus as folivores because their main diet is leaves. Folium is a Latin word meaning leaf and the word voro means devour (eat). Since cuscus lives in the treetops, leaves are easily accessible and don’t require them to risk going to the forest floor to search for food.

Predators And Threats

What Eats The Cuscus?

Predators of these animals include eagles, pythons, and humans.

Poaching is a threat to these animals. One of the most discouraging facts is they are hunted by humans for food. Also, hunters sometimes use their skin to make clothing and other items.

Habitat loss is also a threat. Deforestation takes away the trees where these animals live and reproduce.

Despite these threats, the official conservation status of the common spotted cuscus is Least Concern. Their population is categorized as stable.

Reproduction, Babies And Lifespan

The animal breeds at any time throughout the year and has multiple partners. Though not much is known about their mating rituals, biologists have observed cuscus males and females making clicking, screeching, and hissing sounds during the courtship period.

The gestation period of a female ranges from 20 to 42 days. Compare this to another member of the Phalangeridae family, the common brushtail possum. A female common brushtail possum’s gestation period ranges from 16 to 18 days.

A cuscus can have from 1 to 4 babies, but the average number of offspring is 2. A newborn weighs less than an ounce. They are born blind, deaf, and without fur. The babies have to find their way by smell and touch into their mother’s pouch to nurse. Any baby that’s not strong enough to find and latch onto its mother’s teat to drink milk will die. The babies are called joeys.

The joeys are weaned at about 5 or 6 months. But they stay in their mother’s pouch for up to 7 months before becoming independent. Some animals have been known to return to their mother’s pouch even after they are weaned. The father doesn’t have a role in raising the joeys.

These animals reach sexual maturity at one year old. These animals can live up to 11 years in the wild.

Population

The exact population of the common spotted cuscus is unknown. But, its conservation status is Least Concern. Its population is reported as stable.