Telefomin cuscus

Telefomin cuscus
Conservation status
Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Subclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Phalangeridae
Genus:	Phalanger
Species:	P. matanim
Binomial name
Phalanger matanim Flannery, 1987
Telefomin cuscus range

The Telefomin cuscus (Phalanger matanim) is a probably extinct possum found on New Guinea.

It is named after the Telefol ethnic group, who knew the animal long before it was discovered scientifically by the Australian zoologist Tim Flannery. It lives in the oak forests along the Nong River in the middle of Papua New Guinea, at altitudes between 1500 and 2000 m. After the drought and wildfires of 1997, these forests were destroyed, which probably made the species extinct.

Habitat

This cuscus can be found in the areas of Telefomin and Tifalmin, and Papua New Guinea. It might be found even further northeast or west of the known collection areas. The only place where it is known with certainty was largely destroyed by fire in 1998.^[2]

References

• Groves, C.P. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 47. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.