Monodelphis emiliae (Thomas, 1912)

Astúa, D., 2015, Didelphidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 129-186 : 152-153

42.

Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossum

Monodelphis emiliae

French: Opossum de Boim / German: Emilies Spitzmausbeutelratte / Spanish: Colicorto de Emilie

Other common names: Amazonian Short-tailed Opossum, Emilia’s Short-tailed Opossum

Taxonomy. Peramys emiliae Thomas, 1912 ,

“ Boim , R. Tapajoz ,” Para, Brazil .

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Amazonian Brazil S of the Amazon River (E to Tocantins River), E Peru (S of the Maranon-Ucayali rivers junction and S to the lower Urubamba River), and N Bolivia (Pando).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 9.7-15.8 cm, tail 4.5-7 cm; weight 20-60 g. Mid-dorsal fur of Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossum is grizzled gray. Rump, hindlegs, and head from ears forward are rufous or reddish. There are no eye-rings and no stripes on head or back. Tail length is c.45% of head-body length, and tail has fur on one-third or more ofits dorsal and ventral length. Ventralfur is bright violet-pink in live specimens, fading to orange in preserved skins. Forelegs and forefeet are gray or gray-buff. Fur is ¢.7 mm long on rump. Females lack a pouch, and number of mammae in unknown. Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossum has a 2n = 18, FN = 30 karyotype, with seven pairs of biarmed autosomes, one pair of acrocentric autosomes, and with a small biarmed X-chromosome and a small acrocentric Y-chromosome.

Habitat. Terra firma forest with moderately dense understory and some sites dominated by the palm Iriartea deltoidea . Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossums occur from sea level to elevations of ¢.300 m.

Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.

Breeding. One female Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossum with attached young was caught in February in the Brazilian Amazon. Females with signs that they had already had one litter were collected in February and September.

Activity patterns. There is no specific information for this species, but Emilie’s Shorttailed Opossums are reported to be nocturnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information for this species, but Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossums have been captured exclusively on the ground.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Emilie’s Short-tailed Opossum has a wide distribution, and it presumably occurs in a number of protected areas. Nevertheless, adequate data to properly assess its conservation status are still lacking.

Bibliography. Emmons & Feer (1997), Melo & Sponchiado (2012), Patton & Costa (2003), Patton et al. (2000), Pine & Handley (1984, 2007), Voss & Jansa (2009).

Figures

65. Pygmy Opossum (Chacodelphys formosa), 66. Agricola’s Opossum (Cryptonanus agricola), 67. Chacoan Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus chacoensis), 68. Guaiba Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus guahybae), 69. Unduavi Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus unduaviensis), 70. . Emilie’s. 9 Opossum.. Gracilinanus. (null), 71. Aceramarca Opossum (Gracilinanus aceramarcae), 72. Agile Opossum (Gracilinanus agilis), 73. Wood Sprite Opossum (Gracilinanus dryas), 74. Northern Gracile Opossum (Gracilinanus marica), 75. Brazilian Gracile Opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus)

Distribution. Amazonian Brazil S of the Amazon River (E to Tocantins River), E Peru (S of the Maranon-Ucayali rivers junction and S to the lower Urubamba River), and N Bolivia (Pando).