Den sites and habitats utilised by the northern common cuscus Phalanger orientalis (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae) in East Timor.

Abstract

THOUGH a common and widespread phalangerid possum with populations occurring in Timor, the Moluccas, northern New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands (Flannery 1994; Heinsohn 2000, 2002a; Heinsohn and Hope 2004); comparatively little research has been conducted on the ecology of the northern common cuscus (Phalanger orientalis). Its general niche is thought to be that of a nocturnal arboreal folivore, with frugivorous tendencies, and a preference for closed tropical forests (Heinsohn 1998a, 2000, 2002a).