It is hard to guess what a Brazilian slender opossum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Brazilian slender opossum (Marmosops paulensis) on average weights 38 grams (0.08 lbs).
The Brazilian slender opossum is from the family Didelphidae (genus: Marmosops). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12.5 cm (0′ 5″).
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The Brazilian slender opossum (Marmosops paulensis) is an opossum species from South America. It is found in moist montane forest in the Atlantic Forest region of southeastern Brazil, including the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná. Its breeding may be fully semelparous, which is unusual for a mammal.It is considered monotypic and analysis of mtDNA sequences has distinguished this species from other Marmosops. Similar to the gray slender opossum (M. Incanus), adults of this species have short fur while young have long, soft fur. Early research identified M. paulensis as a subspecies of M. incana. The name M paulensis came from a mistaken attribution of the species origin as São Paulo. Subsequent research has, however, distinguished M. paulensis based on various features like smaller upper canines, absence of palatine fenestrae and longer incisive foramina.
Animals of the same family as a Brazilian slender opossum
We found other animals of the Didelphidae family:
- White-eared opossum bringing 1.03 kilos (2.27 lbs) to the scale
- Sepia short-tailed opossum with a weight of 36 grams
- Pinheiro’s slender opossum with a size of 10.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Osgood’s short-tailed opossum with a weight of 112 grams
- One-striped opossum with a weight of 55 grams
- Woolly mouse opossum with a weight of 107 grams
- Alston’s mouse opossum with a weight of 132 grams
- Black-shouldered opossum with a weight of 258 grams
- Brown-eared woolly opossum with a weight of 351 grams
- Long-nosed short-tailed opossum with a weight of 765 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Brazilian slender opossum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Marmosops paulensis:
- Cairo spiny mouse bringing 41 grams to the scale
- Ecuadorian grass mouse bringing 39 grams to the scale
- Rufous-bellied bolo mouse bringing 32 grams to the scale
- Himalayan striped squirrel bringing 45 grams to the scale
- Dalton’s mouse bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Himalayan water shrew bringing 33 grams to the scale
- Naked mole-rat bringing 39 grams to the scale
- Black-tailed dasyure bringing 38 grams to the scale
- Meadow vole bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Northern mole vole bringing 40 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Brazilian slender opossum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Brazilian slender opossum:
- Shining thicket rat with a size of 11.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mount Apo forest mouse with a size of 10.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Common vole with a size of 11.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Eastern chipmunk with a size of 14.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- California vole with a size of 13.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Mittendorf’s striped grass mouse with a size of 11.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Bunny rat with a size of 14.2 cm (0′ 6″)
- False water rat with a size of 11.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- White-footed vole with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Dusky slender opossum with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)