Bare-tailed woolly opossum

It is called mucura-xixica in Portuguese, zarigüeya lanuda parda in Spanish, and wakaro in the Kwaza language of Rondônia, Brazil. ==Taxonomy==

The bare-tailed woolly opossum is one of the three members of Caluromys, and is placed in the family Didelphidae in the marsupial order Didelphimorphia. It was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus as Didelphis philander in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758). It was given its present binomial name, Caluromys philander, by American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen in 1900. A 1955 revision of marsupial phylogeny grouped Caluromys, Caluromysiops, Dromiciops (monito del monte) and Glironia (bushy-tailed opossum) under a single subfamily, Microbiotheriinae, noting the dental similarities among these. A 1977 study argued that these similarities are the result of convergent evolution, and placed Caluromys, Caluromysiops and Glironia in a new subfamily, Caluromyinae. In another similar revision in 2009, the bushy-tailed opossum was placed in its own subfamily, Glironiinae. The following four subspecies are recognized: |1=Kalinowski's mouse opossum (Hyladelphys kalinowskii) |2= }} }} }} ==Description==

The bare-tailed woolly opossum is characterized by a brown to gray coat, gray head, orange to gray underside and a partially naked tail furry at the base. The size appears to decrease from Venezuela to Suriname; the mean weight is in Venezuela and in Suriname. The head-and-body length is typically between . The ears measure , the tail and the hind feet . The dental formula is – typical of didelphids. ==Ecology and behavior==

The bare-tailed woolly opossum is nocturnal (active mainly at night), and thus difficult to observe or capture. Nevertheless, it is one of the very few opossums that have been successfully studied in detail. A study showed that activity of bare-tailed woolly opossums can be affected by the extent of moonlight. While activity in males dropped from new moon to full moon (that is, with increasing exposure to moonlight), activity in females remained largely unaffected. The opossum is arboreal (tree-living) and a good climber. It builds nests with dry leaves in tree cavities. 'Click's are a common vocalization, produced by the young as well as adults. Bare-tailed woolly opossums, like other Caluromys species, will bite on being handled or to escape predators. The Bare-tailed woolly opossum is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Gigantorhynchus lutzi. Diet An omnivore, the bare-tailed woolly opossum feeds on fruits, vegetables, gum, flowers, nectar, arthropods (such as beetles, butterflies and other insects), other small invertebrates, small birds and reptiles. A study of the foraging behavior of the bare-tailed woolly opossum and the sympatric kinkajou showed that both feed on a variety of plants, choose plants by their abundance, show similar preferences, and favor certain plant parts at certain times of the year. A notable difference between the two was that while the kinkajou focused on plants with a wide distribution, the bare-tailed woolly opossum also fed on less common plants. Reproduction In French Guiana, females mate successfully after they are a year old. Females can have three litters a year, unless food is scarce. A study in French Guiana showed that development of the offspring is slow for the first 40 days, and then accelerates during the last 40 days. The litter size ranges from one to seven. After exiting the pouch, offspring are sheltered in nests, where the mother regularly visits them for nursing. ==Distribution and status==

The bare-tailed woolly opossum inhabits subtropical forests, rainforests, secondary forests and plantations; it prefers dense cover, though it can be seen on canopies as well. It can occur up to an altitude of above the sea level. The range extends from northern Venezuela eastward to northeastern and southcentral Brazil, and includes Guiana, French Guiana, Margarita Island, Trinidad, and Suriname. The IUCN classifies the bare-tailed woolly opossum as least concern, due to its wide distribution and presumed large population. The survival of this opossum is threatened by deforestation and habitat loss. ==References==