The southern four-eyed opossum (''Philander quica'') is 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), ...

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 ...

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 ...

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1824 by

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch patrician, Zoology, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. Fro ...

in his 1824 work ''Monographies de Mammalogie''. Similar to many early

marsupials Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a ...

, this species was originally described in the genus ''

Didelphis ''Didelphis'' is a genus of New World marsupials. The six species in the genus ''Didelphis'', commonly known as Large American opossums, are members of the ''opossum'' order (biology), order, Didelphimorphia. The genus ''Didelphis'' is composed ...

''. This species was considered a valid species until 1935, when the Brazilian zoologist

Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro (21 February 1874, Rio Preto, Minas Gerais – 8 January 1939) was a Brazilian herpetologist and ichthyologist. His son, Paulo de Miranda-Ribeiro (1901–1965), was also a zoologist. From an early age Alípio de Miran ...

would consider it a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

gray four-eyed opossum The gray four-eyed opossum (''Philander opossum'') is an opossum species found in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil, at altitudes from sea level to 1600 m, but generally below . Its habitats include primary, secondary and distu ...

. The Atlantic Forest populations of ''Philander'' were considered to be '' Philander frenatus'' by James L. Patton & Maria Nazareth Ferreira da Silva in 1997, but the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of ''P. frenatus'' was collected in eastern Brazil near the city of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

, well outside the range of this species. ''P. frenatus'' was collected by Friedrich Wilhelm Sieber, who never collected from near the Atlantic Forest. In 2018, ''P. frenatus'' was synonymized with '' Philander opossum'', leaving "''Philander quica"'' as the oldest valid name for this species. Analysis of the

cytochrome b Cytochrome b is a protein found in the membranes of aerobic cells. In eukaryotic mitochondria (inner membrane) and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiq ...

and nucDNA of most members of the genus ''Philander'' has shown ''P. quica'' to be the

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to all other ''Philander'' species. This species is recognized by the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

, but not by the IUCN.

Etymology

"''quica''" seems to come from a native name for this species. It is derived from the Portuguese word "cuíca", itself derived from a Tupi word.

Description

The upper fur on this species is grayish, with darker

underfur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

and darker near the ears and face. The underside is yellowish to whitish, with some gray colors near the sides, between the forearms, and on the bottom of the neck and jaw. It has two spots above each eye that are the same color as the underside. The tail is bald, and gray for half to two-thirds of its length, then white on the distal half to distal third. This species ranges in size from to , averaging . The tail length averages of this length, ranging from to . Despite this wide range of sizes, there is no physical difference between populations across their range.

Range & Habitat

This species is found in southern

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 ...

, northeastern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and eastern

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Its range likely comes into contact with that of the

common four-eyed opossum The common four-eyed opossum (''Philander canus'') is a species of opossum from South America. Taxonomy Although this species was initially described as a valid species, it was considered a subspecies of the gray four-eyed opossum until 2018. Som ...

(''P. canus'') where the Atlantic Rainforest comes into contact with other forests, in Brazil and Paraguay. This is the only ''Philander'' species known from the Atlantic Rainforest. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Atlantic Rainforest, where it occupies almost all habitats within the region. It has been recorded from lowland forests, submontane forests, costal scrub, and even agricultural fields.

Ecology

Similar to its congeners, this species is a true

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

, consuming fruits, flowers, seeds,

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

, carrion, and small

vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

. This species specifically has been recorded feeding on seeds, birds, mammals, reptiles, and various invertebrates, with birds and beetles being the most common prey items. This species is primarily

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, and solitary. Litters average roughly 3-6 young per litter.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q56054837 Opossums Marsupials of Argentina Marsupials of Brazil Mammals of Paraguay Fauna of the Atlantic Forest Mammals described in 1824