Day 91#: Common Spotted Cuscus
Today's animal of the day is the Common Spotted Cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus)!
This species of possum is native to the Cape York Peninsula of Australia, as well as New Guinea and many of the other smaller islands that are nearby. These cat-sized animals are mostly arboreal and have a long prehensile tail that they use to help them hold onto tree branches while climbing. Their fur color can vary depending on the individual, with females tending to have either gray or white fur and males having either gray or brown fur with white spots. Only the males of this species have spots, while the females don't.
These are very shy creatures that are mostly active at night; as such, they are very rarely seen, especially in mainland Australia. During the day, they will sleep on little platforms in the canopy that they make out of tree branches. However, unlike some other species of cuscus, the common spotted cuscus has been occasionally seen feeding during the day. However, they are usually only active at night. This species has a generalist diet, meaning that they aren't adapted to feed a very specific type of food and so can eat a wide variety of different plants and animals. They'll eat leaves, nectar, fruit, flowers, eggs, insects, and even small vertebrates.
Photo credit: Albert Kang
They are mostly solitary and will use musk from special scent glands, as well as their saliva, to mark their territory and tell other members of their species to stay away. The only time these slow-moving marsupials get together is to mate, which can happen at any time of the year since they don't have a set breeding season. Like all marsupials, the babies are born very prematurely compared to placental mammals. Females are only pregnant for around 13 days, and the joeys weigh less than a gram when they are first born. They typically give birth to three joeys at a time, which must quickly make their way to their mother's pouch to continue developing for the next 6 to 7 months!
There's currently a debate going on whether this particular species of cuscus first evolved in Australia or New Guinea. The reason that this is unknown is because fossil evidence seems to suggest that there have been multiple waves of migrations of this species between the two locations over the last million years or so. It seems that the Torres Strait, which separates Australia from New Guinea, would periodically become exposed whenever sea levels would become low, and that this allowed the common spotted cuscus to traverse between the two places.
The common spotted cuscus is also known as the aklang or gabi in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. This species is often hunted on New Guinea for its meat and pelt, though this hasn't negatively impacted the population, and they are currently listed as of least concern by the IUCN, though, like I said they aren't usually seen because of how shy they are. In fact, on the islands of Selayar, Mussau, and Latangai, this species has actually become invasive after it was introduced to these places by humans. While they prefer rainforest habitats, they are better adapted to surviving in a wider array of different environments compared to other cuscus species, and so they are easily able to colonize new places. Especially if there is a lack of predators, such as hawks, owls, and pythons, in these areas.
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