CreatureData

Black-spotted cuscus

Spilocuscus rufoniger (Zimara, 1937)

CRCritically Endangeredmarsupials

The black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger) is a species in the family Phalangeridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh about 6 kg. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.

Black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger)
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black-spotted cuscus

Weight
6 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
1.02src for Young per litter or clutch
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the black-spotted cuscus live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The black-spotted cuscus is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the black-spotted cuscus?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger) is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is among the largest members of the family, only being surpassed by the bear cuscus. It is a relatively colourful species found in forests of northern New Guinea. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss, and has already disappeared from large parts of its range. Consequently, it is rated as Critically Endangered by IUCN.

From the Wikipedia article “Black-spotted cuscus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-spotted_cuscus&oldid=1356680214), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black-spotted cuscus endangered?

The black-spotted cuscus is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species.

How is the black-spotted cuscus classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderDiprotodontia
  5. familyPhalangeridae
  6. genusSpilocuscus
  7. SpeciesSpilocuscus rufoniger (Zimara, 1937)

Synonyms Phalanger atrimaculatus, Phalanger maculatus rufoniger, Phalanger rufoniger

Other names and names in other languages (13)
  • Black spotted cuscusEnglish
  • كسكس أسود النقاطArabic
  • kuskus tmavoskvrnnýCzech
  • Schwarzfleck-TüpfelkuskusGerman
  • Cuscús RojinegroSpanish
  • mustatäpläkuskusFinnish
  • Couscous à taches noiresFrench
  • Kuskus BohaiIndonesian
  • クロフクスクスJapanese
  • SvartflekkuskusNorwegian Bokmål
  • kuskus czarnoplamyPolish
  • Cuscus-de-Manchas-NegrasPortuguese
  • Рыже-чёрный кускусRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black-spotted cuscus

Other species in the same genus Spilocuscus.

VU, Vulnerable

Waigeou cuscus

Spilocuscus papuensis

PhalangeridaeNo free photo yet

CompareBlack-spotted cuscus vs Common spotted cuscusBlack-spotted cuscus vs Waigeou cuscusBlack-spotted cuscus vs Admiralty island cuscusBlack-spotted cuscus vs Biak spotted cuscus

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black-spotted cuscus?

An adult black-spotted cuscus weighs 6 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the black-spotted cuscus live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the black-spotted cuscus for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the black-spotted cuscus endangered?

The black-spotted cuscus is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the black-spotted cuscus?

The black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger) belongs to the family Phalangeridae in the order Diprotodontia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-spotted-cuscus

MLA

“Black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-spotted-cuscus.

BibTeX
@misc{black_spotted_cuscus_2026,
  title = {Black-spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus rufoniger)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-spotted-cuscus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}