Dorothy's slender opossum (''Marmosops dorothea'') is a species of

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 Nort ...

in the family Didelphidae. 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 ...

and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Recent research suggests that ''M. dorothea'' is a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''M. noctivagus'', the

white-bellied slender opossum The white-bellied slender opossum (''Marmosops noctivagus'') is a species of opossum from South America. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru. Recent research suggests that ''M. dorothea'' is a synonym A synonym is a word, morph ...

. On the other hand, '' M. ocellatus'', a junior synonym of ''M. dorothea'', may be a separate true species.

References

Opossums Mammals of Bolivia Mammals described in 1911 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{marsupial-stub