NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Spotted Cuscus
Spilocuscus maculatus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Exhibit in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Via Brigata Liguria, 9, 16121, Genoa, Italy. Photography was permitted in the museum without restriction.
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Open encyclopedia reference
The common spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), also known as the white cuscus, is a cuscus, a marsupial that lives in the Cape York region of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands.
Wikipedia contributors, Common spotted cuscus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:08:33.622833+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spilocuscus maculatus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
- Name authority
- (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
- Common name
- Common Spotted Cuscus
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Family
- Phalangeridae
- Genus
- Spilocuscus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
- suborderPhalangeriformes Szalay in Archer, 1982
- superfamilyPhalangeroidea Thomas, 1888
- familyPhalangeridae Thomas, 1888
- subfamilyPhalangerinae Thomas, 1888
- genusSpilocuscus Gray, 1861
- speciesSpilocuscus maculatus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Spilocuscus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Blue-eyed Spotted CuscusSpilocuscus wilsoni Helgen & Flannery, 2004 | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Australian Spotted CuscusSpilocuscus nudicaudatus (Gould, 1850) | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Admiralty Island CuscusSpilocuscus kraemeri (Schwarz, 1910) | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Waigeo Spotted CuscusSpilocuscus papuensis (Desmarest, 1822) | PhalangeridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Spilocuscus maculatus chrysorrhous (Temminck, 1824) (Temminck, 1824) | synonym |
| Spilocuscus maculatus goldiei (Ramsay, 1876) (Ramsay, 1876) | synonym |
| Spilocuscus maculatus maculatus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) | synonym |
| Phalangista maculata É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803 É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552690 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z3N8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.