The white-bellied woolly mouse opossum (Marmosa constantiae ) is a small pouchless marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus Micoureus, which was made a subgenus of Marmosa in 2009. The specific epithet was given in honour of Constance Sladen (née Anderson), wife of the naturalist Percy Sladen. She funded the 1902 expedition which collected the type specimen.
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
An omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
Altricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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starts withThis is one of the larger mouse opossums, with a head=body length of 11 to 18 cm (4.3 to 7.1 in), a tail 15 to 23 cm (5.9 to 9.1 in) in length, and weighing from 35 to 144 g (1.2 to 5.1 oz). The fur is thick and woolly, and is grey over most of the body, fading to buffy-yellow on the head and underparts. There are clear, but narrow, rings of black fur around the eyes. The tail is furred only at the base, and is near black for most of its length, but changes suddenly to pale pink along the last third or so.
The feet are broad, with stout claws and ridges on the underside of the toes that aid in climbing trees. Females do not have a pouch, but have fifteen teats arranged in a circle - more than in any of this species' closest relatives.
The opossum is found across northern Bolivia, in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and in northern Argentina as far south as Tucumán Province. It has also recently been reported from Paraguay. Across this region, it inhabits moist tropical forests, often near the boundary with drier habitats, and has been found from near sea level to montane forests as high as 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation.
The opossum is arboreal, solitary, and nocturnal, spending most of its time in the forest understory. It is omnivorous, feeding on insects (especially bugs) and vegetable matter. Little is known of their reproductive biology, but they appear to breed throughout the year, and mothers have been captured with up to seven young attached to their teats.
