Caluromys philander (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 : 9-11

Caluromys philander (Linnaeus)

Identification. This medium-sized marsupial has distinctive big brown eyes surrounded by brown eye-rings. Head pelage is gray with a dark stripe extending from the level of the brown ears to the nose. Dorsal pelage is warm reddish brown with long and woolly fur; ventral pelage is orangish. The tail is furred only at the basal portion. Females have two lateral folds that form the pouch.

Measurements (n = 4): HB = 185–215, T = 233–279, HF = 32–35, E = 32–36, W = 111–269.

Distribution. This is a widely distributed species, present from the northern South America in Venezuela and Guianas to central Brazil and eastern Bolivia, and the eastern region within the Atlantic Forest of Brazil ( Gardner 2007). This is the first record of C. philander in the state of Tocantins.

Natural history. Caluromys philander is strictly arboreal ( Emmons & Feer 1997). Three individuals were captured in traps placed from three to four meters above the ground, and one was found dead inside a pipetrap (arboreal refuges used for colonization by tree frogs). Only one individual was caught in a 30 L pitfall trap. All captures of this species took place in alluvial forests at PEC. In September 2007 and September 2008, two females were captured carrying three suckling young each, and in November 2008, two others had rusty-colored pouches.

Vouchers (n = 1: skull): UFES 1414.