Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum

Elegant Fat-tailed Mouse Opossum[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae
Genus: Thylamys
Species: T. elegans
Binomial name
Thylamys elegans
(Waterhouse, 1839)
Geographic range

The Elegant Fat-tailed Mouse Opossum (Thylamys elegans) is a species of opossum in the family Didelphidae. Its head-and-body length ranges from 106 to 121 millimeters. Its tail length ranges from 115 to 142 millimeters. Its tail is swollen (it stores fat in its tail) and has fine hairs all over it. Its fur color varies, but it usually ranges from light gray to light brown. The sides are lighter, and the ventral fur is white, possibly with gray or yellow mixed in. There is a dark patch surrounding each eye, extending towards the nose. Females have been reported to have nineteen nipples. Females give birth to around eight to twelve (up to fifteen) young per litter. In Chile, the breeding season is from September to March, producing about two litters. An elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum makes nests in various places. It eats mainly arthropods and their larvae, but it also eats fruits, small vertebrates, and possibly carrion.[3] It is found in Chile and perhaps Argentina, at altitudes from sea level to 2500 m.[2]

References

  1. ^ Gardner, Alfred L. (16 November 2005). "Order Didelphimorphia (pp. 3-18)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). p. 17. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=10400163. 
  2. ^ a b Solari, S. & Teta, P. (2008). Thylamys elegans. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  3. ^ Eisenberg, John Frederick; Redford, Kent Hubbard (1999). Mammals of the Neotropics: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. University of Chicago Press. pp. 669. ISBN 9780226195421. http://books.google.com/books?id=p2MDAzCeQQoC&source=gbs_navlinks_s.