Northern Black-eared Opossum

Description

It is a marsupial that carries its newborn breeds, barely the size of a bee, to the mother’s marsupial bag to complete there a good part of its development, a reproduction mode radically different from that of any other mammal of its size in the American continent. It lives in tropical rainforests and wet forests of much of Central America and South America, where it moves both by the soil and between low vegetation thanks to a prensil tail that it uses as a fifth support member. It is a food opportunist able to eat almost anything, from small fruits to vertebrates or carroña, which allows it to thrive in both well-preserved jungle and in areas altered by humans.

How to identify it

A medium-sized marsupial, gray to black brown coat, sharp fox, naked black ears, and partially naked long prensil tail. It differs from the northern zarigüeya, with which it overlaps part of its Central American area, by its slightly darker coat and by facial coloring details; both species share the same general appearance of sharp fox marsupial.

Signs and tracks

Fingerprint with 5 fingers on each foot, the rear thumb opponible and nailless, a unique trait among American mammals that distinguishes it from any other animal of its size, 4-5 cm. Irregular and soft excrete, with visible fruit, insect or bone remains, left scattered without fixed pattern.

Habitat and range

Tropical rainforest and transitional forest, from lowlands to middle mountain areas.Distributed across much of Central America and North and Central South America.

Diet

Opportunist omnivore, he feeds on fruits, insects, small vertebrates, eggs and carrot, adapting his diet to the available resources in each habitat.

Behaviour

Solitary and nocturnal activity, with a characteristic marsupial reproductive behavior: the breasts complete a good part of their development within the mother's marsupial bag after being born in a very immature state.

Conservation

Its populations are considered stable in much of its distribution area, favored by its great ability to adapt to habitats altered by humans.

Threats

It does not face significant threats at species level; locally suffers road crashes and occasional persecution for prey on chickens.

Other accounts in Didelphidae

• Balsas Gray Mouse OpossumTlacuatzin balsasensis
• Comadrejita de vientre rojizoCryptonanus ignitus
• Common Brown Four-eyed OpossumMetachirus myosuros
• Derby's Woolly OpossumCaluromys derbianus
• Mexican Mouse OpossumMarmosa mexicana
• Northern Four-eyed OpossumPhilander vossi
• Northern Gray Mouse OpossumTlacuatzin sinaloae
• Tehuantepec Gray Mouse OpossumTlacuatzin canescens
• Tres Marías Gray Mouse OpossumTlacuatzin insularis
• Water OpossumChironectes minimus
• Yucatán Gray Mouse OpossumTlacuatzin gaumeri
• Zarigüeya norteamericanaDidelphis virginiana

See all species accounts for opossums · Full species index