''Lutreolina'' is a genus of opossum found in

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 ...

. Both extant species in this genus are known as lutrine opossums. They have an otter-like body plan and occasionally

semiaquatic In biology, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below. Semiaquatic animals Semi aquatic animals include: * Ve ...

tendencies, hence the genus name ''Lutreolina'', which is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "otter-like". Formerly, only one species, the

big lutrine opossum The big lutrine opossum (''Lutreolina crassicaudata''), also known as the little water opossum, comadreja colorada, thick-tailed opossum, or coligrueso is an opossum species from South America in the genus ''Lutreolina''. Description The big ...

(previously known as just the lutrine opossum) was recognized, but a 2014 study described a second species, ''Lutreolina massoia'', on genetic and morphological grounds. There are also two fossil species recognized, ''Lutreolina biforata'' (formerly placed in ''Hyperdidelphys'') and ''Lutreolina materdei''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16335775 Marsupial genera Opossums Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas