Mountain cuscus – Phalanger carmelitae Thomas, 1898 – of central Province / Papua New Guinea.

The mountain cuscus (Phalanger carmelitae) is an arboreal marsupial native to the montane forests of New Guinea, including Papua New Guinea. It is a nocturnal species that rests during the day in tree hollows or dense epiphytic vegetation and forages in the forest canopy at night. Its diet consists predominantly of leaves, supplemented by fruit and smaller quantities of other plant material. The species was scientifically described by Oldfield Thomas in 1898 from specimens collected by the Italian explorer and naturalist Lamberto Loria near the upper Vanapa River. The specific epithet carmelitae honours an Italian woman identified in nomenclatural sources as Donna Carmelita de Rossi; however, no reliable biographical details explaining who she was or why the species was dedicated to her appear to have been documented.