Black-shouldered opossum
| Black-shouldered opossum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Didelphimorphia |
| Family: | Didelphidae |
| Subfamily: | Caluromyinae |
| Genus: | Caluromysiops Sanborn, 1951 |
| Species: | C. irrupta |
| Binomial name | |
| Caluromysiops irrupta Sanborn, 1951 | |
 | |
| Black-shouldered opossum range | |
The black-shouldered opossum (Caluromysiops irrupta), also known as the white-eared opossum is an opossum species from South America. It's found in multistrata evergreen Amazonian forests of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It is in the monotypic genus Caluromysiops.
It's a rare animal species and, probably, highly arboreal. When in captivity they can feed on fruits and small rodents. In the wild, they also feed on nectar, serving as pollinators. Black-shouldered opossums are lethargic canopy dwellers that feed on fruit and nectar. It feeds on the abundant fruit and nectar of its tropical forest home.
This species is considered one of the large opossums, with a head-body length of about 28 cm with a 30 cm tail. Two stripes from the front feet along the back to the rear feet distinguish the type. The forelimbs are longer than the hindlimbs. Like many tree-dwelling mammals this opossum has a prehensile tail for clinging to branches, and large, protruding eyes.
References
- ↑ Patterson, B. & Solari, S. (2008). Caluromysiops irrupta. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- Eisenberg, John F.; Kent H. Redford (2000). Mammals of Neotropics: Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil.
- Gardner, A.L. (2005). "Order Didelphimorphia". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.