How big does a Brown four-eyed opossum get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Brown four-eyed opossum (Metachirus nudicaudatus) reaches an average size of 26.1 cm (0′ 11″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). Usually, they reach an age of 4 years. A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 365 grams (0.8 lbs). A Brown four-eyed opossum has 4 babies at once. The Brown four-eyed opossum (genus: Metachirus) is a member of the family Didelphidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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:
- Patagonian opossum with a size of 13.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Wood sprite gracile opossum with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Emilia’s short-tailed opossum with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- White-bellied woolly mouse opossum with a size of 16.1 cm (0′ 7″)
- Bishop’s slender opossum with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Paraguayan fat-tailed mouse opossum with a size of 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Southern three-striped opossum with a size of 8.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Bare-tailed woolly opossum with a size of 22.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- Tschudi’s slender opossum with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Virginia opossum with 8 babies per litter
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:
- Indonesian mountain weasel with a size of 30.9 cm (1′ 1″)
- Water opossum with a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″)
- Conover’s tuco-tuco with a size of 25.8 cm (0′ 11″)
- Buffy-headed marmoset with a size of 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Javan mongoose with a size of 27.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Smoky pocket gopher with a size of 21.5 cm (0′ 9″)
- Greater dwarf lemur with a size of 22.5 cm (0′ 9″)
- Calabar angwantibo with a size of 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Big-headed African mole-rat with a size of 20.9 cm (0′ 9″)
- Pallas’s squirrel with a size of 21.1 cm (0′ 9″)
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:
- Libyan jird
- Lesser short-tailed gerbil
- Montane wood mouse
- Rudd’s mouse
- Tropical pocket gopher
- Western harvest mouse
- Alpine marmot
- Pygmy gerbil
- Darwin’s leaf-eared mouse
- Ornate shrew
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:
- Giant golden mole with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Botta’s pocket gopher with an average maximal age of 4.5 years
- Lemur-like ringtail possum with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Kultarr with an average maximal age of 3.25 years
- Siberian flying squirrel with an average maximal age of 3.75 years
- Common planigale with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Yellow-necked mouse with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Molina’s hog-nosed skunk with an average maximal age of 3.33 years
- Spix’s yellow-toothed cavy with an average maximal age of 4.58 years
- Long-legged myotis with an average maximal age of 4.25 years
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:
- Admiralty flying fox bringing 305 grams to the scale
- Richardson’s ground squirrel bringing 325 grams to the scale
- Texas pocket gopher bringing 397 grams to the scale
- Long-tailed giant rat bringing 349 grams to the scale
- Emilia’s marmoset bringing 309 grams to the scale
- Bower’s white-toothed rat bringing 355 grams to the scale
- Sulawesi flying fox bringing 383 grams to the scale
- Northern Idaho ground squirrel bringing 300 grams to the scale
- Brazilian spiny tree-rat bringing 400 grams to the scale
- Southern tuco-tuco bringing 403 grams to the scale