The Guianan white-eared opossum (''Didelphis imperfecta'') is an

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. It is found in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Possessing the smallest distribution area of its genus, this species is endemic to the Guiana Shield and can inhabit elevations ranging from 80 to 2,250 meters above sea level in the region's lowland forests. This species, together with the

Andean white-eared opossum The Andean white-eared opossum (''Didelphis pernigra'') is an opossum species from South America. It is found in the Andes Mountains, ranging from Venezuela to Bolivia. Together with the Guianan white-eared opossum (''D. imperfecta''), this spec ...

(''D. pernigra''), was separated from the

white-eared opossum The white-eared opossum (''Didelphis albiventris''), known as the timbu in Brazil and comadreja overa in Argentina, is an opossum species found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is a terrestrial and, sometimes, arboreal a ...

(''D. albiventris'') in 2002, having been included with that species in 1993.

References

Opossums Mammals of Brazil Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Suriname Mammals of Venezuela Mammals described in 1984 {{marsupial-stub