The Telefomin cuscus (Phalanger matanim) is a critically endangered possum found on New Guinea.
It is named after the Telefol ethnic group, who hunted the animal long before it was identified scientifically by the Australian zoologist Tim Flannery. It is believed to live only in the extremely restricted range of one valley's oak forests at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,000 m (4,900 and 6,600 ft) along a single river in the middle of Papua New Guinea: the Nong River Valley north of Telefomin. After 1997's drought, extremely cold weather ("bitter frosts") which killed the trees, and resulting wildfires, these forests were destroyed, which Flannery believes might have resulted in the species' extinction. In 2022, British tourist Michael Smith found the Telefomin cuscus eaten by the locals, indicating that this species is still surviving in the wild.[3]
^Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
^Leary, T.; Seri, L.; Flannery, T.; Wright, D.; Hamilton, S.; Helgen, K.; Singadan, R.; Menzies, J.; Allison, A.; James, R.; Salas, L.; Dickman, C. (2016). "Phalanger matanim". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T16851A21950802. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T16851A21950802.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^Cosic, M. (March 4, 2023). "Possum feared extinct discovered being cooked on a hungry family's BBQ". Mirror. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
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