Marmosa murina (Linnaeus)

Rocha, Rita G., Ferreira, Eduardo, Costa, Barbara M. A., Martins, Iracy C. M., Leite, Yuri L. R., Costa, Leonora P. & Fonseca, Carlos, 2011, Small mammals of the mid-Araguaia River in central Brazil, with the description of a new species of climbing rat, Zootaxa 2789, pp. 1-34 : 12

Marmosa murina (Linnaeus)

Identification. This is a small-bodied murine opossum with large black eye mask that reaches the nose and large brown ears. The forehead is lighter than the rest of the body. Dorsal pelage is chestnut brown with short fur; ventral pelage varies from cream to light salmon with self-colored hairs restricted to the midline, flanked with gray-based hair bands. The tail is dark throughout all of its length and is covered by very small unpigmented hairs. Females have no pouch.

Measurements (n = 54): HB = 98–155, T = 145–200, HF = 18–26, E = 20–28, W = 31–68.

Distribution. This species occurs in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Guianas and Brazil throughout humid forests of Amazonia and Atlantic Forest ( Gardner 2007).

Natural history. Fifty-four (41 males and 13 females) adult M. murina were captured, mainly on the ground in upland forests, as previously reported in the Juruá River basin (Patton et al. 2000). One female was captured with six pouch young in September 2009. All her young were dead and we observed cannibalism by the mother over the young. Two other females with rusty pouches were captured in August 2007 and September 2008, indicating reproductive activity during the dry season.

Vouchers (n = 8: 5ɗ 3Ψ): UFES 1272–1279.