It is hard to guess what a Brown four-eyed opossum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus) on average weights 365 grams (0.8 lbs).
The Brown four-eyed opossum is from the family Didelphidae (genus: Metachirus). They can live for up to 4 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 26.1 cm (0′ 11″). Usually, Brown four-eyed opossums have 4 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus) is a pouchless marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It is found in different forested habitats of Central and South America, from Nicaragua to Paraguay and northern Argentina, including southeastern Colombia, western Brazil and eastern Peru and Bolivia, at elevations from sea level to 1500 m. It is the only recognized species in the genus Metachirus, but molecular phylogenetics studies suggest that it should probably be split into several species. Population densities are usually low, and it is uncommon in parts of Central America. A density of 25.6/km2 was reported near Manaus, Brazil. Its karyotype has 2n = 14 and FN = 24.It is a nocturnal, solitary, strongly terrestrial and omnivorous animal, feeding on fruits, small vertebrates and invertebrates.The brown four-eyed opossum builds nests made of leaves and twigs in tree branches or under rocks and logs. It is seasonally polyestrous and the litter size varies from one to nine.The white spot over each eye inspired the common name of “four-eyed opossum”. Its scaly tail is longer than its body.The opossum appears to be mostly insectivorous, though also consumes some types of fruit seeds, small vertebrate creatures like birds and reptiles and invertebrates like crayfish and snails. The brown four-eyed opossum is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Gigantorhynchus ortizi.
Animals of the same family as a Brown four-eyed opossum
We found other animals of the Didelphidae family:
- Brazilian gracile opossum with a weight of 29 grams
- Grayish mouse opossum with a weight of 47 grams
- Bishop’s slender opossum with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Wood sprite gracile opossum with a weight of 18 grams
- Rufous mouse opossum with a weight of 14 grams
- Northern three-striped opossum with a weight of 19 grams
- Grayish mouse opossum with a weight of 48 grams
- Dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum with a weight of 20 grams
- Emilia’s gracile opossum with a weight of 7 grams
- Gray four-eyed opossum with a weight of 426 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Brown four-eyed opossum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Metachirus nudicaudatus:
- Lesser bilby bringing 364 grams to the scale
- Black and rufous elephant shrew bringing 423 grams to the scale
- Southern Amazon red squirrel bringing 403 grams to the scale
- African striped weasel bringing 308 grams to the scale
- Zanj sun squirrel bringing 347 grams to the scale
- Masoala fork-marked lemur bringing 409 grams to the scale
- Bunker’s woodrat bringing 375 grams to the scale
- Social tuco-tuco bringing 400 grams to the scale
- Darien pocket gopher bringing 437 grams to the scale
- White-winged flying fox bringing 343 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Brown four-eyed opossum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Brown four-eyed opossum:
- Painted ringtail possum with a size of 26.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Guadalcanal rat with a size of 21.6 cm (0′ 9″)
- Bulmer’s fruit bat with a size of 24.5 cm (0′ 10″)
- Volcano rabbit with a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″)
- Bolivian tuco-tuco with a size of 22.1 cm (0′ 9″)
- Belding’s ground squirrel with a size of 23.6 cm (0′ 10″)
- Columbian ground squirrel with a size of 29.6 cm (1′ 0″)
- Giant naked-tailed rat with a size of 31 cm (1′ 1″)
- Common degu with a size of 28 cm (1′ 0″)
- Conover’s tuco-tuco with a size of 25.8 cm (0′ 11″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Brown four-eyed opossum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a Brown four-eyed opossum:
- Southern big-eared mouse
- Hairy-tailed mole
- Pale fox
- Western pygmy possum
- Dice’s cottontail
- Turkestan rat
- Merriam’s chipmunk
- Short-tailed bandicoot rat
- Red fox
- Bush dog
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Brown four-eyed opossum
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Brown four-eyed opossum:
- Desert hedgehog with an average maximal age of 4.5 years
- Sminthopsis laniger with an average maximal age of 3.25 years
- Guyenne spiny rat with an average maximal age of 4.75 years
- Sand-colored soft-furred rat with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Giant golden mole with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Arctic lemming with an average maximal age of 3.75 years
- Lemur-like ringtail possum with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Aders’s duiker with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Raffray’s bandicoot with an average maximal age of 3.25 years
- Yellow-footed antechinus with an average maximal age of 3.5 years