The white-bellied woolly mouse opossum (''Marmosa constantiae'') is a small pouchless

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

of the family Didelphidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus '' Micoureus'', which was made a subgenus of ''

Marmosa The 27 species in the genus ''Marmosa'' are relatively small Neotropical members of the family Didelphidae. This genus is one of three that are known as mouse opossums. The others are '' Thylamys'' (the "fat-tailed mouse opossums") and '' Tlacua ...

'' in 2009. The specific epithet was given in honour of Constance Sladen (née Anderson), wife of the naturalist Percy Sladen. She funded the 1902 expedition which collected the type specimen.

Description

This is one of the larger mouse opossums, with a head=body length of , a tail in length, and weighing from . The fur is thick and woolly, and is grey over most of the body, fading to buffy-yellow on the head and underparts. There are clear, but narrow, rings of black fur around the eyes. The tail is furred only at the base, and is near black for most of its length, but changes suddenly to pale pink along the last third or so. The feet are broad, with stout claws and ridges on the underside of the toes that aid in climbing trees. Females do not have a pouch, but have fifteen teats arranged in a circle - more than in any of this species' closest relatives.

Distribution and habitat

The opossum is found across northern Bolivia, in the

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 ...

ian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and in northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

as far south as

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...

. It has also recently been reported from

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Across this region, it inhabits moist tropical forests, often near the boundary with drier habitats, and has been found from near sea level to montane forests as high as elevation.

Biology and behaviour

The opossum is

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

, solitary, and nocturnal, spending most of its time in the forest understory. It is omnivorous, feeding on insects (especially bugs) and vegetable matter. Little is known of their reproductive biology, but they appear to breed throughout the year, and mothers have been captured with up to seven young attached to their teats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q194449 Opossums Marsupials of Argentina Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Brazil Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas