How many baby Lutrine opossums are in a litter?
A Lutrine opossum (Lutreolina crassicaudata) usually gives birth to around 7 babies.With 2 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 14 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 14 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 285 grams (0.63 lbs) and measure 1.2 meter (4′ 0″). They are a member of the Didelphidae family (genus: Lutreolina). An adult Lutrine opossum grows up to a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The lutrine opossum (Lutreolina crassicaudata), also known as the little water opossum, thick-tailed opossum, or coligrueso is an opossum species from South America and is monotypic in the genus Lutreolina.
Other animals of the family Didelphidae
Lutrine opossum is a member of the Didelphidae, as are these animals:
- Northern red-sided opossum with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Red mouse opossum weighting only 63 grams
- McIlhenny’s four-eyed opossum becoming 2.25 years old
- Grayish mouse opossum with 8 babies per pregnancy
- Neblina slender opossum raching a size of 12.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Bushy-tailed opossum weighting only 114 grams
- Northern gracile opossum with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Karimi’s fat-tailed mouse opossum raching a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Patagonian opossum weighting only 78 grams
- Wood sprite gracile opossum weighting only 18 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Lutrine opossum
Those animals also give birth to 7 babies at once:
- Red-cheeked ground squirrel
- Northern red-sided opossum
- Long-tailed planigale
- European hamster
- Long-tailed ground squirrel
- Southern ningaui
- Vinogradov’s jird
- Arctic fox
- Mediterranean water shrew
- Steppe polecat
Animals that get as old as a Lutrine opossum
Other animals that usually reach the age of 3 years:
- Eastern woodrat with 3 years
- Water opossum with 3 years
- Southwestern water vole with 3.5 years
- Greater white-toothed shrew with 3.17 years
- Australian swamp rat with 2.42 years
- Smith’s vole with 3.5 years
- Allen’s big-eared bat with 3.17 years
- Golden mouse with 2.5 years
- Little long-tailed dunnart with 3.17 years
- Typical striped grass mouse with 2.5 years
Animals with the same weight as a Lutrine opossum
What other animals weight around 556 grams (1.23 lbs)?
- Golden-rumped elephant shrew weighting 535 grams
- Yellow-bellied glider weighting 568 grams
- Painted ringtail possum weighting 642 grams
- Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose weighting 550 grams
- Slender mongoose weighting 530 grams
- Spermophilus relictus weighting 600 grams
- Kashmir flying squirrel weighting 510 grams
- Mountain ground squirrel weighting 625 grams
- Eastern lowland olingo weighting 620 grams
- Black-mantled tamarin weighting 450 grams
Animals with the same size as a Lutrine opossum
Also reaching around 32.4 cm (1′ 1″) in size do these animals:
- Colombian white-faced capuchin gets as big as 37.8 cm (1′ 3″)
- Fennec fox gets as big as 37.5 cm (1′ 3″)
- King rat (animal) gets as big as 26 cm (0′ 11″)
- Western quoll gets as big as 34.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Giant Atlantic tree-rat gets as big as 28.1 cm (1′ 0″)
- Central American squirrel monkey gets as big as 28.2 cm (1′ 0″)
- Southern needle-clawed bushbaby gets as big as 30 cm (1′ 0″)
- Mountain cottontail gets as big as 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- Eastern cottontail gets as big as 37.2 cm (1′ 3″)
- New Britain water rat gets as big as 29.2 cm (1′ 0″)