Bear cuscus
| Bear cuscuses | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sulawesi bear cuscus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Phalangeridae |
| Subfamily: |
Ailuropinae Flannery, Archer and Maynes, 1987 |
| Genus: |
Ailurops Wagler, 1830 |
| Type species | |
|
Phalangista ursina Temminck, 1824 |
|
| Species | |
The bear cuscuses are the members of the genus Ailurops. They are marsupials of the family Phalangeridae.
The bear cuscuses are arboreal marsupials that live in the upper canopy of tropical rainforests. Almost nothing is known of their status and ecology. Although some scientists assign all populations to one species, A. ursinus, others place melanotis as its own species. The genus is distinct, though, and some authorities place it within its own subfamily, Ailuropinae. It is found only on some of the islands of Indonesia (e.g., Sulawesi), which are culturally part of Asia, where marsupials are generally not found but which are biogeographically part of the Australasian ecozone. It is hypothesized that the isolation of the bear cuscuses on the island of Sulawesi in the Miocene accounts for the animal's morphological divergence from the rest of the family Phalangeridae.
The genus contains the following species:
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