![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Ground_Cuscus_cotswoldwildlifepark.jpg/640px-Ground_Cuscus_cotswoldwildlifepark.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Cuscus
Index of animals with the same common name / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the North African dish, see Couscous.
Cuscus (/ˈkʌskʌs/ or /ˈkuːskuːs/) is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum[1] of the family Phalangeridae with the most tropical distribution:
![Ground_Cuscus_cotswoldwildlifepark](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Ground_Cuscus_cotswoldwildlifepark.jpg/640px-Ground_Cuscus_cotswoldwildlifepark.jpg)
The name comes from the word kusu or kuso in some local related languages spoken in the Maluku Islands like Bacan and Ambonese Malay,[2] it is also applied in parts of Indonesia to the Sunda slow loris, where people do not distinguish this from the "kuskus" possums. Note however, that 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,[3] due to convergent evolution.