Gray couscous

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Gray couscous
CuscusOrientalisWolf.jpg

Gray couscous ( Phalanger orientalis )

Systematics
Subclass : Marsupials (Marsupialia)
Superordinate : Australidelphia
Order : Diprotodontia
Family : Climbing Burs (Phalangeridae)
Genre : Couscous ( phalanger )
Type : Gray couscous
Scientific name
Phalanger orientalis
( Pallas , 1766)

The gray cuscus ( Phalanger orientalis ), also known as the northern gray cuscus or woolly cuscus , is a climbing bag from the genus of the cuscus ( phalanger ), whose range extends from Timor and the Moluccas through northern New Guinea and nearby islands to the Bismarck archipelago and the Solomon Islands .

features

The gray cuscus is generally a large cuscus with a short, hard coat and a dark median stripe on the back. The fur color is variable, but the females always have a white tip of the tail. The belly is generally white. Animals from the Kai Islands and Buru are completely white. Specimens of Sanana have a reddish brown fur (including the belly). Male New Guinea gray cuscus are off-white, the females reddish or brown, and the young reddish or gray.

On Guadalcanal, both gray and white specimens occur in the northern, drier areas, whereas in the humid south of the island only black and dark brown animals are found. The largest specimens can be found in the west (Timor and the Moluccas), where the males can weigh almost five kilograms, the smallest in Nissan and the southern Solomon Islands, where the adults often only weigh about one kilogram. The head-trunk length of the specimens from New Ireland and New Guinea is 377 to 472 millimeters, the tail length 278 to 425 millimeters, the hind foot length 40 to 61.9 millimeters, the ear length 21 to 29 millimeters and the weight 1600 to 3500 grams.

distribution and habitat

Distribution map of the gray cuscus gray: not certain, dark turquoise: natural occurrence, red: introduced

It may have been introduced on much of the islands where the gray cuscus is found today. Two similar species from southwest and southeast New Guinea and the Cape York Peninsula in Australia, Phalanger mimicus and Phalanger intercastellanus , have long been considered subspecies of the gray cuscus. At Mount Karimui in Papua New Guinea there are two related, previously undescribed species.

The gray couscous is divided into two subspecies: P. o. Breviceps (THOMAS, 1888) from the Bismarck Archipelago and from the Solomon Islands and P. o. Orientalis ( sensu stricto ) from New Guinea, the Moluccas and Timor. The islands around New Guinea on which the Gray Cuscus has been detected are Ambon , Bagabag , the Banda Islands , Batanta , Biak - Supiori , Bougainville , Buka , Buru , Seram , Choiseul , Gorom , Guadalcanal , Yapen , Karkar , the Kai - Islands , Koil , Long , Malaita , Misool , Mioko , New Britain , New Georgia , New Ireland , Nissan , Numfoor , the Russell Islands , Salawati , Sanana , Makira , Santa Isabel , Saparua , Su Mios , Umboi , Vella Lavella , Vokeo and Waigeo . In New Guinea, the gray cuscus occurs at altitudes of 1500 m above sea level. The animal was probably introduced to New Ireland 20,000 or 10,000 years ago, to Timor and the Solomon Islands 6,000 years ago, and at an unknown time to the Moluccas (e.g. Seram, Buru, Sanana and the Kai Islands). The gray cuscus makes only minor demands on its habitat: it is often found in rainforests , but also and especially in gardens and in other areas disturbed by humans. Occasionally it is kept as a pet .

Way of life and food

A gray couscous on Timor

The gray cuscus is a solitary nocturnal animal that stays in a tree hole during the day. The mating season is likely all year round. After a gestation period of 13 days, the females have one to three cubs per litter, which weigh less than one gram at birth. The diet consists of fruits, leaves, flowers, buds and bast. Predators are snakes , predatory baggers and, on the Solomon Islands, the Solomon sea eagle .

literature

  • Groves, CP 2005. Order Diprotodontia. Pp. 43-70 in Wilson, DE & Reeder, DM (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
  • Flannery, TF 1995. Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Chatswood: Reed Books, 464 pp. ISBN 0-7301-0417-6
  • Flannery, TF 1995. Mammals of New Guinea. 2nd ed. Chatswood, New South Wales: Reed Books, 568 pp. ISBN 0-7301-0411-7

Web links

Commons : Phalanger orientalis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files