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

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

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 sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

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 Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

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 ''Monodelphis'' is a genus of marsupials in the family Didelphidae, commonly referred to as short-tailed opossums. They are found throughout South America. , the most recently described species is ''M. vossi''. Species * Sepia short-tailed o ...

''. 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''. After close examination and gene sequence studies in 2010, it was determined that there were actually three different species in the

n 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 Short-tailed opossums Marsupials of Brazil Marsupials of Colombia Mammals of French Guiana Mammals of Guyana Mammals of Suriname Marsupials of Venezuela Mammals described in 1777 Taxa named by Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben