''Phalanger'' (from the Greek ''phalangion'', meaning spider's web, from their webbed (fused) toes
[Chambers English Dictionary]) is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
possums. Its members are found on
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
, the
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
, other nearby small islands, and Australia's
Cape York Peninsula. They are
marsupials of the family
Phalangeridae
The Phalangeridae are a family of mostly nocturnal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Eastern Indonesia, including the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and their close relatives. Considered a type of possum, most species are arboreal, ...
,
and are one of the four genera whose species are commonly referred to as
cuscus
Cuscus ( or ) is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum of the family Phalangeridae with the most tropical distribution:
* ''Ailurops''
* ''Phalanger''
* ''Spilocuscus''
* ''Strigocuscus'' ...
es.
*Genus ''Phalanger''
**
Gebe cuscus, ''P. alexandrae''
**
Mountain cuscus, ''P. carmelitae''
**
Ground cuscus, ''P. gymnotis''
**
Eastern common cuscus, ''P. intercastellanus''
**
Woodlark cuscus, ''P. lullulae''
**
Blue-eyed cuscus
The blue-eyed cuscus (''Phalanger matabiru'') is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is endemic to the two small islands of Ternate and Tidore, west of the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, Indonesia
Indonesi ...
, ''P. matabiru''
**
Telefomin cuscus, ''P. matanim''
**
Southern common cuscus, ''P. mimicus''
**
Northern common cuscus, ''P. orientalis''
**
Ornate cuscus, ''P. ornatus''
**
Rothschild's cuscus, ''P. rothschildi''
**
Silky cuscus, ''P. sericeus''
**
Stein's cuscus, ''P. vestitus''
References
External links
*
*
Possums
Marsupials of Oceania
Marsupial genera
Taxa named by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr
{{Marsupial-stub