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Northern Common Cuscus
Phalanger orientalis
The northern common cuscus (Phalanger orientalis), also known as the gray cuscus, is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae native to northern New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands, but is now also found in the Bismarck Archipelago, southeast and central Moluccas, the Solomons, and Timor, where it is believed to have been introduced in prehistoric times from New Guinea. It was formerly considered conspecific with the allopatric P. intercastellanus and P. mimicus.
It is hunted for human consumption in New Guinea.
From the article Northern common cuscus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
The northern common cuscus normally inhabits disturbed habitats. These would include secondary forest, plantations, and gardens. This species is also found in primary tropical forests. While living in the arboreal environments, hunters in the area believe that the tree hollows are the preferred den site of the cuscus. Local villagers reported that the northern common cuscus can be found in any substantially forested areas from coastal monsoon rainforest and gallery forest to the remnant montane rainforest.
Wikipedia: “Habitat”
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Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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Every page naming Phalanger orientalis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 42825.