Telefomin cuscus

Phalanger matanim (English name: " Telefomin couscous " ) is an extremely rare or already extinct climbing Beutler from the kind of couscous ( Phalanger ), in the districts of Telefomin and Tifalmin in the far west of Papua New Guinea is endemic in the valley of Nong River. He comes in oak forests at altitudes 1550-2600 m above sea level before. This type was known to the people of Telefol a very long time before Tim Flannery in 1985 and 1986, the type specimens collected. In 1987, by Flannery the first scientific description. The species name is derived from the matanim Telefol name for this species.

Description

P. matanim is a large, stocky couscous with a long, gray fur. The belly is white. The ears are short, weak arms, the tail is short and the teeth small. The head-body length is 344-438 mm, tail length 275-315 mm, the Hinterfußlänge 40.1 to 45.3 millimeters, the ear length: 20 to 21 millimeters. The animal reaches a weight 1100-2000 grams. P. matanim has no close relatives and represents probably represents a primitive type

Inventory and risk

2001 Tim Flannery visited a second time after 1986, the Nong Valley. The mountain oak forest, which was still intact in 1985 and 1986, in 1997 completely destroyed by drought, frost and fire, and Flannery found for the survival of P. matanim no more signs. In 2008, the IUCN classified this species in the category of " threatened with extinction " ( critically endangered ) and goes from a stock of less than 50 specimens.