When someone refers to a marsupial, we usually picture a kangaroo, koala, or opossum. Those are the most recognizable to most people.
If one grew up watching a lot of National Geographic, like I did, one might also be able to add wallabies, wombats, and the Tasmanian devil to the list without resorting to Wikipedia.
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But there are marsupials who are even less well-known than those, which is a shame, because they deserve love too.
Meet the common spotted cuscus, which has also been called the white cuscus.
Not to be confused with couscous , which is a type of Maghrebi pasta dish that has become popular worldwide.
I note this because in the process of trying to research this very cute creature, I saw a lot of pictures of delicious-looking food and it made me very hungry.
The common spotted cuscus is a friendly native of Australasia.
That’s not a misspelling, but rather the name for a group of communities within Oceania that includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and a few other surrounding smaller islands.
The cuscus population is mostly concentrated in New Guinea, with pockets on other islands and in the Cape York region of Australia.
These cuties aren’t afraid of humans and while they like to hangout in tropical forests, they’re also happy to move into agricultural areas, such as coconut plantations.
They grow to be about the size of an average house cat, and feature creamy coats, with ginger and caramel-brown mottling. Females tend to be mostly cream throughout their body, which the males are larger with spots all over.
Since they’re popular prey for large local birds, cuscus hide by wrapping palm fronds around themselves while they sleep through the day.
Spotted cuscus eat mostly vegetation in the form of leaves, though they will also supplement with young coconuts, other fruit, and insects.
The common spotted cuscus population is pretty stable and currently listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List , however most other cuscus species are in more trouble. Their ratings span from Near Threatened to Critically Endangered, depending on their local habitat.
So let’s not let these cuties be forgotten in favor of the more famous marsupials.
h/t: Australian Geographic , ADW
