The mountain cuscus (Phalanger carmelitae) is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The mountain cuscus belongs to the family Phalangeridae and the genus Phalanger. It was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1898. The species includes two recognized subspecies: the nominate P. c. carmelitae Thomas, 1898, and P. c. coccygis Thomas, 1922.
The mountain cuscus has a head-body length of 37âÂÂ43 cm, a tail length of 31âÂÂ36.5 cm, and weighs 1.7âÂÂ2.6 kg. Its thick, woolly fur is dark, ranging from chocolate-brown to blackish and occasionally dark grayish-brown, on the back, with a white belly. The tail is black with a white distal tip and is coarsely tuberculated. The skull is medium-sized, with a condylobasal length of 70âÂÂ88 mm, a relatively short rostrum, a large posterior upper premolar and molars, the second upper premolar always present, and three unicuspids on each side of the lower jaw.
The mountain cuscus is most easily confused with the silky cuscus (P. sericeus), which differs in having a smooth tail without tuberculation, a shorter or absent white tail tip, the second upper premolar absent, and usually only one or two unicuspids on each side of the lower jaw.
The mountain cuscus is nocturnal and arboreal, resting during the day in tree hollows and in tangles of epiphytes and Pandanus fronds. At night it spends approximately 40% of its time feeding, around 25% resting, and the remainder traveling. Males have been recorded using 11âÂÂ13 dens per year, spaced an average of 115 m apart, while females use 12âÂÂ19 dens per year spaced an average of 124 m apart.
Male mountain cuscuses move at an average speed of 59 m/h across a home range of approximately 4 ha, while females travel at an average of 37 m/h across home ranges of 2âÂÂ8 ha. Adjacent home ranges overlap only slightly, with male home ranges overlapping by an average of 0âÂÂ22% and female home ranges by only 0âÂÂ5%. The population trend is considered stable.