CreatureData

Southern common cuscus

Phalanger mimicus Thomas, 1922

LCLeast Concernmarsupials

The southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus) is a species in the family Phalangeridae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh about 2.29 kg and live up to 4.08 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus)
Photo: Czdenek · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the southern common cuscus

Weight
2.29 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
4.08 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
4.1 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
13 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2src 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 southern common 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 southern common 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 southern common cuscus?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus), also known as Australian cuscus, gray phalanger, and to-ili, is an arboreal marsupial endemic to Australia (Cape York), southern New Guinea and possibly the Aru Islands. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with P. intercastellanus, and before that also with P. orientalis.

From the Wikipedia article “Southern common cuscus” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_common_cuscus&oldid=1360103544), 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 southern common cuscus endangered?

The southern common cuscus is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  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 Least Concern species.

How is the southern common cuscus classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderDiprotodontia
  5. familyPhalangeridae
  6. genusPhalanger
  7. SpeciesPhalanger mimicus Thomas, 1922

Synonyms Phalanger mimicus mimicus, Phalanger mimicus peninsulae, Phalanger orientalis mimicus, Phalanger orientalis peninsulae

Other names and names in other languages (11)
  • Australian common cuscusEnglish
  • Australian cuscusEnglish
  • Australian cuscusEnglish
  • كسكس أستراليArabic
  • kuskus jižníCzech
  • Südlicher Grauer KuskusGerman
  • Cuscús Común MeridionalSpanish
  • ミナミクスクスJapanese
  • Zuidwestelijke KoeskoesDutch
  • pałanka nowogwinejskaPolish
  • Cuscus-comum-MeridionalPortuguese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the southern common cuscus

Other species in the same genus Phalanger.

CR, Critically Endangered

Telefomin cuscus

Phalanger matanim

PhalangeridaeNo free photo yet

CompareSouthern common cuscus vs Ground cuscusSouthern common cuscus vs Northern common cuscusSouthern common cuscus vs Ornate cuscusSouthern common cuscus vs Mountain cuscus

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the southern common cuscus?

An adult southern common cuscus weighs 2.29 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the southern common cuscus live?

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

Is the southern common cuscus endangered?

The southern common cuscus is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the southern common cuscus live?

The southern common cuscus has a recorded lifespan of 4.08 years.

How long is the southern common cuscus pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 13 days.

What kind of animal is the southern common cuscus?

The southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus) 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). Southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-common-cuscus

MLA

“Southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-common-cuscus.

BibTeX
@misc{southern_common_cuscus_2026,
  title = {Southern common cuscus (Phalanger mimicus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/southern-common-cuscus},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}