Chacoan pygmy opossum

Species of marsupial

Chacoan pygmy opossum
Conservation status

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae
Subfamily: Didelphinae
Tribe: Thylamyini
Genus: Chacodelphys
Voss et al., 2004
Species:
C. formosa
Binomial name
Chacodelphys formosa
(Shamel, 1930)
Chacoan pygmy opossum range

The Chacoan pygmy opossum (Chacodelphys formosa) is a recently described genus and species of didelphimorph marsupial. The only species in Chacodelphys, C. formosa, was known until 2004 from only one specimen collected in 1920 in the Chaco of Formosa Province, Argentina.[1] The species is gaining popularity as a pocket pet.

Description

The Chacoan pygmy opossum is the smallest known species of didelphid. It has a head-body length of 68 mm, a tail of 55 mm and a hind foot of 11. It differs from the other "marmosine" genera (Marmosa, Monodelphis, Thylamys, Tlacuatzin, Gracilinanus, Marmosops, Lestodelphys) in having a long third manual digit, no distinctly tricolored pelage, a long fourth pedal digit, and a tail shorter than head-body. No other marmosine genera has this combination of characters. It is endemic to a small region of northern Argentina.

Taxonomic history

C. formosa was originally described as Marmosa muscula Shamel (1930a); however, this name is preoccupied, so Shamel (1930b) renamed it M. formosa. Afterwards, George Tate (1933) considered it a valid member of his "Elegans group" (=Thylamys) of Marmosa, whereafter it has been variously synonymized or treated as a distinct species of Marmosa or Thylamys until 1989, when Gardner & Creighton (1989) listed it as a synonym of Gracilinanus agilis, and then later separated from this species as G. formosus.[2] Finally, Voss et al. (2004) erected the new genus Chacodelphys for the species.

References

  1. ^ a b Teta, P.; de la Sancha, N.; Flores, D. (2016). "Chacodelphys formosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T136547A22175485. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T136547A22175485.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gardner, A.L. (2005). "Order Didelphimorphia". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  • Gardner, A.L. & Creighton, G.K. 1989. A new generic name for Tate's microtarsus group of South American mouse opossums (Marsupialia: Didelphidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 102:3–7.
  • Shamel, H.H. 1930a. A new murine opossum from Argentina. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 20:83-84.
  • Shamel, H.H. 1930b. A new name for Marmosa muscula Shamel. Journal of Mammalogy 11:311.
  • Tate, G.H.H. 1933. A systematic revision of the marsupial genus Marmosa with a discussion of the adaptive radiation of the murine opossums (Marmosa). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 66:1–250.
  • Voss, R.S., Gardner, A.L. & Jansa, S.A. 2004. On the relationships of "Marmosa" formosa Shamel 1930 (Marsupialia, Didelphidae), a phylogenetic puzzle from the chaco of northern Argentina. American Museum Novitates 3442:1-18, 2 June 2004.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Extant Didelphimorphia (opossums) species
Subfamily Caluromyinae
Caluromys
(Woolly opossums)
Subgenus Caluromys
Bare-tailed woolly opossum (C. philander)
Subgenus Mallodelphys
Derby's woolly opossum (C. derbianus)
Brown-eared woolly opossum (C. lanatus)
Caluromysiops
  • Black-shouldered opossum (C. irrupta)
Glironia
  • Bushy-tailed opossum (G. venusta)
Subfamily Didelphinae (cont. below)
Chacodelphys
  • Chacoan pygmy opossum (C. chacoensis)
Chironectes
  • Water opossum (C. minimus)
Cryptonanus
  • Agricola's gracile opossum (C. agricolai)
  • Chacoan gracile opossum (C. chacoensis)
  • Guahiba gracile opossum (C. guahybae)
  • Unduavi gracile opossum (C. unduaviensis)
Didelphis
(Large American
opossums)
  • White-eared opossum (D. albiventris)
  • Big-eared opossum (D. aurita)
  • Guianan white-eared opossum (D. imperfecta)
  • Common opossum (D. marsupialis)
  • Andean white-eared opossum (D. pernigra)
  • Virginia opossum (D. virginiana)
Gracilinanus
  • Aceramarca gracile opossum (G. aceramarcae)
  • Agile gracile opossum (G. agilis)
  • Wood sprite gracile opossum (G. dryas)
  • Emilia's gracile opossum (G. emilae)
  • Northern gracile opossum (G. marica)
  • Brazilian gracile opossum (G. microtarsus)
Hyladelphys
  • Kalinowski's mouse opossum (H. kalinowskii)
Lestodelphys
  • Patagonian opossum (L. halli)
Lutreolina
  • Big lutrine opossum (L. crassicaudata)
  • Massoia's lutrine opossum (L. massoia))
Marmosa
(Mouse opossums)
  • Alston's mouse opossum (M. alstoni)
  • Heavy-browed mouse opossum (M. andersoni)
  • White-bellied woolly mouse opossum (M. constantiae)
  • Woolly mouse opossum (M. demerarae)
  • Isthmian mouse opossum (M. isthmica)
  • Rufous mouse opossum (M. lepida)
  • Mexican mouse opossum (M. mexicana)
  • Linnaeus's mouse opossum (M. murina)
  • Tate's woolly mouse opossum (M. paraguayanus)
  • Little woolly mouse opossum (M. phaeus)
  • Quechuan mouse opossum (M. quichua)
  • Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum (M. regina)
  • Robinson's mouse opossum (M. robinsoni)
  • Red mouse opossum (M. rubra)
  • Tyler's mouse opossum (M. tyleriana)
  • Guajira mouse opossum (M. xerophila)
Marmosops
  • Bishop's slender opossum (M. bishopi)
  • Narrow-headed slender opossum (M. cracens)
  • Creighton's slender opossum (M. creightoni)
  • Dorothy's slender opossum (M. dorothea)
  • Dusky slender opossum (M. fuscatus)
  • Handley's slender opossum (M. handleyi)
  • Tschudi's slender opossum (M. impavidus)
  • Gray slender opossum (M. incanus)
  • Panama slender opossum (M. invictus)
  • Junin slender opossum (M. juninensis)
  • Neblina slender opossum (M. neblina)
  • White-bellied slender opossum (M. noctivagus)
  • Delicate slender opossum (M. parvidens)
  • Brazilian slender opossum (M. paulensis)
  • Pinheiro's slender opossum (M. pinheiroi)
Subfamily Didelphinae (cont. above)
Metachirus
  • Brown four-eyed opossum (M. nudicaudatus)
Monodelphis
(Short-tailed
opossums)
  • Sepia short-tailed opossum (M. adusta)
  • Northern three-striped opossum (M. americana)
  • Northern red-sided opossum (M. brevicaudata)
  • Yellow-sided opossum (M. dimidiata)
  • Gray short-tailed opossum (M. domestica)
  • Emilia's short-tailed opossum (M. emiliae)
  • Amazonian red-sided opossum (M. glirina)
  • Ihering's three-striped opossum (M. iheringi)
  • Pygmy short-tailed opossum (M. kunsi)
  • Marajó short-tailed opossum (M. maraxina)
  • Osgood's short-tailed opossum (M. osgoodi)
  • Hooded red-sided opossum (M. palliolata)
  • Peruvian short-tailed opossum (M. peruviana)
  • Reig's opossum (M. reigi)
  • Ronald's opossum (M. ronaldi)
  • Chestnut-striped opossum (M. rubida)
  • Long-nosed short-tailed opossum (M. scalops)
  • Southern red-sided opossum (M. sorex)
  • Southern three-striped opossum (M. theresa)
  • Red three-striped opossum (M. umbristriata)
  • One-striped opossum (M. unistriata)
Philander
(Gray & black four-
eyed opossums)
  • Anderson's four-eyed opossum (P. andersoni)
  • Deltaic four-eyed opossum (P. deltae)
  • Southeastern four-eyed opossum (P. frenatus)
  • McIlhenny's four-eyed opossum (P. mcilhennyi)
  • Mondolfi's four-eyed opossum (P. mondolfii)
  • Olrog's four-eyed opossum (P. olrogi)
  • Gray four-eyed opossum (P. opossum)
Thylamys
  • Cinderella fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. cinderella)
  • Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. elegans)
  • Karimi's fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. karimii)
  • Paraguayan fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. macrurus)
  • White-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. pallidior)
  • Common fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. pusillus)
  • Argentine fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. sponsorius)
  • Tate's fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. tatei)
  • Dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. velutinus)
  • Buff-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum (T. venustus)
Tlacuatzin
  • Grayish mouse opossum (T. canescens)
Taxon identifiers
Chacodelphys formosa
Chacodelphys
Marmosa formosa