How many baby Water opossums are in a litter?
A Water opossum (Chironectes minimus) usually gives birth to around 3 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 2 grams (0 lbs) and measure 7.6 cm (0′ 3″). They are a member of the Didelphidae family (genus: Chironectes). An adult Water opossum grows up to a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″).
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 water opossum (Chironectes minimus), also locally known as the yapok (), is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It is the only living member of its genus, Chironectes. This semiaquatic creature is found in and near freshwater streams and lakes from Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina and is the most aquatic living marsupial (the lutrine opossum also has aquatic habits). It is also the only living marsupial in which both sexes have a pouch. The thylacine, commonly referred to as the Tasmanian tiger, also exhibited this trait, but it is now believed to be extinct.The water opossum lives in bankside burrows, emerging after dusk to swim and search for fish, crustaceans and other aquatic animals, which it eats on the bank.
Other animals of the family Didelphidae
Water opossum is a member of the Didelphidae, as are these animals:
- Bare-tailed woolly mouse opossum weighting only 119 grams
- Virginia opossum with 8 babies per pregnancy
- Southern three-striped opossum weighting only 112 grams
- Brown four-eyed opossum with 4 babies per pregnancy
- White-eared opossum with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Wood sprite gracile opossum weighting only 18 grams
- Marajó short-tailed opossum raching a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Rufous mouse opossum with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Southern red-sided opossum weighting only 48 grams
- Grayish mouse opossum with 8 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Water opossum
Those animals also give birth to 3 babies at once:
- Taiwan field mouse
- Brown palm civet
- Neotropical otter
- Abert’s squirrel
- Juniper vole
- Slender squirrel
- Hog badger
- Atlantic Forest climbing mouse
- Deroo’s mouse
- Pinyon mouse
Animals that get as old as a Water opossum
Other animals that usually reach the age of 3 years:
- Kultarr with 3.25 years
- Black myotis with 3.5 years
- Cape mole-rat with 3 years
- Ooldea dunnart with 3 years
- Northern short-tailed shrew with 2.75 years
- White-footed dunnart with 2.5 years
- Parantechinus bilarni with 3 years
- Dibatag with 3 years
- Brazilian spiny tree-rat with 3.08 years
- Bicolored shrew with 3 years
Animals with the same weight as a Water opossum
What other animals weight around 977 grams (2.15 lbs)?
- Bengal slow loris usually reaching 1.14 kgs (2.51 lbs)
- Ring-tailed cat usually reaching 1.02 kgs (2.25 lbs)
- Emperor rat usually reaching 1 kgs (2.2 lbs)
- American marten weighting 878 grams
- Rio Beni titi weighting 992 grams
- David’s echymipera weighting 817 grams
- Aotus infulatus weighting 800 grams
- Travancore flying squirrel weighting 794 grams
- New England cottontail weighting 814 grams
- Ashy black titi weighting 992 grams
Animals with the same size as a Water opossum
Also reaching around 29.7 cm (1′ 0″) in size do these animals:
- Crowned lemur gets as big as 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- Arctic ground squirrel gets as big as 27.9 cm (0′ 11″)
- White-footed rabbit-rat gets as big as 25 cm (0′ 10″)
- Ring-tailed cat gets as big as 33.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Cape ground squirrel gets as big as 24.7 cm (0′ 10″)
- Common kusimanse gets as big as 33.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Collared titi gets as big as 29.4 cm (1′ 0″)
- Thomas’s flying squirrel gets as big as 34 cm (1′ 2″)
- Giant otter shrew gets as big as 32 cm (1′ 1″)
- Arizona gray squirrel gets as big as 26.4 cm (0′ 11″)