How many baby Red-cheeked dunnarts are in a litter?
A Red-cheeked dunnart (Sminthopsis virginiae) usually gives birth to around 4 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 16 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 5 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 1.6 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Dasyuridae family (genus: Sminthopsis). An adult Red-cheeked dunnart grows up to a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″).
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 red-cheeked dunnart (Sminthopsis virginiae) is so called because of the distinctive red hair on its cheek. It is an Australasian marsupial. Its total length is 167–270 mm; its average body length is 80–135 mm with a tail of 87–135 mm. Ear length is 12–13 mm. Its weight varies between 18 and 75 grams. Its tail is thin and pale pink.
Other animals of the family Dasyuridae
Red-cheeked dunnart is a member of the Dasyuridae, as are these animals:
- Dibbler with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Kangaroo Island dunnart weighting only 22 grams
- Three-striped dasyure weighting only 223 grams
- Gilbert’s dunnart weighting only 19 grams
- Fat-tailed dunnart with 7 babies per pregnancy
- New Guinean planigale weighting only 14 grams
- Kultarr with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Broad-striped dasyure with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Atherton antechinus with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Dusky antechinus with 8 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Red-cheeked dunnart
Those animals also give birth to 4 babies at once:
- Oligoryzomys longicaudatus
- Greater hamster-rat
- Tarbagan marmot
- Pallas’s cat
- Greater white-toothed shrew
- Senegal gerbil
- Nectomys squamipes
- Black-tailed gerbil
- Lesser Egyptian gerbil
- Geata mouse shrew
Animals that get as old as a Red-cheeked dunnart
Other animals that usually reach the age of 2 years:
- Feather-tailed possum with 2 years
- Panamanian spiny pocket mouse with 1.75 years
- McIlhenny’s four-eyed opossum with 2.25 years
- Long-tailed giant rat with 2 years
- Silky anteater with 2.25 years
- Laxmann’s shrew with 2 years
- Common shrew with 2 years
- Mongolian gerbil with 2 years
- Campbell’s dwarf hamster with 1.75 years
- Honey possum with 2 years
Animals with the same weight as a Red-cheeked dunnart
What other animals weight around 35 grams (0.08 lbs)?
- Winkelmann’s mouse weighting 40 grams
- Luzon Cordillera forest mouse weighting 34 grams
- Dusky hopping mouse weighting 39 grams
- Woodland thicket rat weighting 42 grams
- Aztec mouse weighting 34 grams
- Brown antechinus weighting 29 grams
- Molossops abrasus weighting 35 grams
- Brazilian slender opossum weighting 38 grams
- Northern caenolestid weighting 31 grams
- Dark bolo mouse weighting 40 grams
Animals with the same size as a Red-cheeked dunnart
Also reaching around 11 cm (0′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Pocock’s highland rat gets as big as 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mount Apo forest mouse gets as big as 10.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- White-toothed brush mouse gets as big as 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Aztec mouse gets as big as 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Big-eared hopping mouse gets as big as 11.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby gets as big as 12 cm (0′ 5″)
- Handley’s slender opossum gets as big as 11.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Gray-collared chipmunk gets as big as 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mountain pygmy possum gets as big as 11.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Eastern mole gets as big as 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)