The Waigeou cuscus or Waigeou spotted cuscus (''Spilocuscus papuensis'') is a species of
marsupial
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...
in the family
Phalangeridae. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the island of
Waigeo in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
and consequently the spelling Waigeo cuscus is often used instead of Waigeou cuscus. Unlike all other members of the genus ''
Spilocuscus'', both genders are whitish with black spots. It remains fairly common, but its small range makes it
vulnerable to
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and hunting.
References
Possums
Mammals of Western New Guinea
Mammals described in 1822
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Marsupials of New Guinea
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