The northern red-sided opossum or the Guianan short-tailed opossum, ''Monodelphis brevicaudata'', is an opossum

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 sout ...

. It is found in Bolivia,

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 ...

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

, Guyana, Suriname 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 ...

Characteristics

Monodelphis brevicaudata skull - ZooKeys 465-08

Body length is 11–14 cm (– in). Tail length is 4.5–6.5 cm (– in). They are red-legged mouse like marsupials that weigh anywhere between 67 and 95 g. There is no recognizable

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

between the males and females, though the males are slightly larger than the females. The distinctive feature of the ''M. brevicaudata'' is the short, dense, grey or black fur they on their dorsal side with red fur on the lateral side that continues down to the feet.Unknown
''Monodelphis Brevicaudata: Details.''
Encyclopedia of Life. EOL, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

Habitat

They are found in the rainforest, typically in mature, secondary rainforest. plantations, or gardens, including the edges of clearings. It is not as often found in dry deciduous forests. They reside in shrubby areas with lots of vegetation and often are found in the hollows of trees. Being in this environment also exposes them to their predators such as owls, coyotes, foxes and bobcats. It is regularly found up at 1,2000m in elevation.

Behavior

Life span in the wild is unknown but in captivity they are live, on average, about 3.9 years. They live in forested areas, but are poor climbers and stay on the forest floor. They are nocturnal and during the day they stay in nests in hollow logs or tree trunks and are active during twilight. Their diet consists of seeds, shoots and fruits, carrion, insects such as cockroaches, crickets and spiders, and some small rodents. Rodents are killed with a powerful bite in the back of the head.

Reproduction

They are polygynous and become sexually mature at around 4 to 5 months. The males in the groups may be violent and fight one another for territory and mates. There are 7 young born per litter, and if healthy enough, females can have 4 litters per year. Breeding season is typically from May to August, but are seen to be similar to that of ''

Monodelphis domestica The gray short-tailed opossum (''Monodelphis domestica'') is a small South American member of the family Didelphidae. Unlike most other marsupials, the gray short-tailed opossum does not have a true pouch. The scientific name ''Monodelphis'' is ...

''. It is speculated that the females may show some form of parental care since they need to care for the young after birth for about 50 days. The pouch of the ''M. brevicaudata'' is not as developed as in other marsupials. The young cling to the mother's fur and nipples and ride on her back when they are old enough to hold on.Dr. Whitfield, Philip.''The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Animals,'' New York:Marshall Editions Development Limited, 1998. pg 21. The shape of the urethral grooves of the males' genitalia is used to distinguish between ''Monodelphis brevicaudata'', ''

'', and '' Monodelphis americana''. The grooves form 2 separate channels that form the ventral and dorsal folds of the erectile tissue.

Taxonomy

''M. brevicaudata'' was previously thought to have been a member of ''

Monodelphis glirina The Amazonian red-sided opossum (''Monodelphis glirina'') is a South American opossum species of the family Didelphidae, formerly viewed as part of '' M. brevicaudata''. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru, where it inhabits the Amazon ra ...

''. After close examination and gene sequence studies in 2010, it was determined that there were actually three different species in the Bolivian area: ''M. brevicaudata'' and ''M.domestica''.Robert S. Voss,
A New Species of the Didelphid Marsupial Genus ''Monodelphis'' from Eastern Bolivia
, ''American Museum Novitates'', 3740, 1-14.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q194458 Opossums Marsupials of South America Mammals of Brazil Mammals of Colombia Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Suriname Mammals of Venezuela Fauna of northern South America Mammals described in 1777