Cuscus

Cuscus ( or ) is a common name given to the species belonging to four genera of Australasian possums in the family Phalangeridae: Ailurops, Phalanger, Spilocuscus, and Strigocuscus. The name comes from the word kusu or kuso in some local related languages spoken in the Maluku Islands like Bacan and Ambonese Malay. It is also applied in parts of Indonesia to the Sunda slow loris, where people do not distinguish this from the "kuskus" possums. The loris, being a primate, is unrelated to the other cuscus species. Cuscus are marsupials, even though they have some appearances, traits and attributes like those of lemurs of Madagascar, which are prosimians, due to convergent evolution. == References ==