Silky cuscus
Phalanger sericeus Thomas, 1907
The silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus) is a species in the family Phalangeridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh about 2 kg. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the silky cuscus
- Weight
- 2 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
- 1.01src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Where does the silky 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 silky cuscus is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the silky cuscus?
The silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus) is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
From the Wikipedia article “Silky cuscus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silky_cuscus&oldid=1342774686), 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 silky cuscus endangered?
The silky cuscus is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the silky cuscus classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderDiprotodontia
- familyPhalangeridae
- genusPhalanger
- SpeciesPhalanger sericeus Thomas, 1907
Other names and names in other languages (10)
- كسكس حريريArabic
- kuskus černýCzech
- SeidenkuskusGerman
- ylänkökuskusFinnish
- Couscous soyeuxFrench
- Kuskus SuteraIndonesian
- ワタゲクスクスJapanese
- pałanka czarnaPolish
- Cuscus-SedosoPortuguese
- Шелковистый кускусRussian
Relatives of the silky cuscus
Other species in the same genus Phalanger.
Ground cuscus
Phalanger gymnotis
Northern common cuscus
Phalanger orientalis
Ornate cuscus
Phalanger ornatus
Mountain cuscus
Phalanger carmelitae
Telefomin cuscus
Phalanger matanim
Southern common cuscus
Phalanger mimicus
CompareSilky cuscus vs Ground cuscusSilky cuscus vs Northern common cuscusSilky cuscus vs Ornate cuscusSilky cuscus vs Mountain cuscus
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the silky cuscus?
An adult silky cuscus weighs 2 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the silky cuscus live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the silky cuscus for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the silky cuscus endangered?
The silky cuscus is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the silky cuscus?
The silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/silky-cuscus
“Silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/silky-cuscus.
@misc{silky_cuscus_2026,
title = {Silky cuscus (Phalanger sericeus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/silky-cuscus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}