How many baby Rufous mouse opossums are in a litter?
A Rufous mouse opossum (Marmosa lepida) usually gives birth to around 5 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 110 grams (0.24 lbs) and measure 13.3 cm (0′ 6″). They are a member of the Didelphidae family (genus: Marmosa). An adult Rufous mouse opossum grows up to a size of 10.8 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 rufous mouse opossum (Marmosa lepida) or little rufous mouse opossum is an opossum species from South America. The species has been found in Bolivia, Surinam, French Guinea, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Surinam in lowland tropical rainforest at altitudes from 100 to 1000 m. It is presumed to feed on insects and fruit, like its close relatives.It is considered a monotype. It is smaller in size and has a brighter red colored fur, distinguishing it from other congeners.Though the species has been known for over a century, very few specimens have been studied, most of these from areas below 600m and taken from western edges of the Amazon basin and Guianas. Its dorsal pelage is reddish-brown and its ventral pelage is grayish. Researchers believe this coloring is product of adaptation to a humid forest environment.
Other animals of the family Didelphidae
Rufous mouse opossum is a member of the Didelphidae, as are these animals:
- Bishop’s slender opossum raching a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Chestnut-striped opossum weighting only 45 grams
- Little woolly mouse opossum raching a size of 13.7 cm (0′ 6″)
- Southern three-striped opossum weighting only 112 grams
- Brazilian gracile opossum weighting only 29 grams
- Common fat-tailed mouse opossum weighting only 28 grams
- Emilia’s short-tailed opossum weighting only 52 grams
- Northern red-sided opossum with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Wood sprite gracile opossum weighting only 18 grams
- Guajira mouse opossum weighting only 46 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Rufous mouse opossum
Those animals also give birth to 5 babies at once:
- Water vole (North America)
- Meadow jumping mouse
- Cape mole-rat
- Cliff chipmunk
- Variegated squirrel
- Montane shrew
- Western jumping mouse
- Kowari
- Red wolf
- Black-capped marmot
Animals with the same weight as a Rufous mouse opossum
What other animals weight around 14 grams (0.03 lbs)?
- Marsh shrew weighting 15 grams
- Northern ghost bat weighting 16 grams
- Cape horseshoe bat weighting 12 grams
- Long-tongued nectar bat weighting 16 grams
- Chiriqui brown mouse weighting 15 grams
- Ultimate shrew weighting 16 grams
- Visored bat weighting 16 grams
- Eptesicus demissus weighting 13 grams
- Brown mastiff bat weighting 15 grams
- Gould’s wattled bat weighting 14 grams
Animals with the same size as a Rufous mouse opossum
Also reaching around 10.8 cm (0′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Lodgepole chipmunk gets as big as 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Black-tailed dasyure gets as big as 10.8 cm (0′ 5″)
- Malayan water shrew gets as big as 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Savanna path shrew gets as big as 8.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Woolly dormouse gets as big as 10.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Greater Egyptian gerbil gets as big as 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Pseudoryzomys gets as big as 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Greater short-nosed fruit bat gets as big as 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Steppe lemming gets as big as 9.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Yellow golden mole gets as big as 10 cm (0′ 4″)