﻿THE CUSCUSES. 83 



Phalangisfa papnensis^ Desmarest, Mamm., Suppl , vol. ii., p. 



541 (1822). 

 Cuscus maculaiiis^ Lesson and Garnot, Voyage Coquille, Zool., 



vol. i., p. 150 (1826). 

 Phahvnger maculatus^ Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 



197 (1888). 



Sexes usually different, the females being larger than the 

 males. Size large ; fur soft ; top of muzzle above nose thinly 

 covered with hair; ears small, thinly clothed on both sides with 

 soft woolly hair. General colour consisting of various combina- 

 tions of white, rufous, and black ; under-parts white tinged with 

 yellow or rufous ; tail generally deep yellow, furry from one-half 

 to three-quarters of its length above, and from one-third to one- 

 half beneath. Length of head and body about 26 inches ; of 

 tail 19 inches. The yellow colour of the base of the tail will 

 serve to distinguish the dark varieties of this species from the 

 preceding, in which the same region is dark like the body ; 

 these two species being the only members of the genus in which 

 the ears are thickly haired both externally and internally. 



Distribution. — Northern Australia, in the Cape York district. 

 Southern New Guinea, and the Austro-Malayan Islands, east- 

 wards from Saleyer, but unknown in Celebes, the Southern 

 Moluccas, or the Halmah^ra group. 



As a rule, the females are generally grey and black, while the 

 males are usually spotted, although sometimes they resemble 

 the ordinary grey female, with the exception of having a few 

 indistinct whitish spots on the back and flanks. From this 

 form there is a gradual transition to one in which the fur is 

 nearly wholly white, save for a few dark spots. Other males 

 assume a more or less decided red tinge ; the rufous tint some- 

 times occupying only a part or the whole of the portions of the 

 fur which are usually dark, but in other cases suffusing those 



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