It is hard to guess what a Gray short-tailed opossum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) on average weights 94 grams (0.21 lbs).
The Gray short-tailed opossum is from the family Didelphidae (genus: Monodelphis). They can live for up to 6 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 14.8 cm (0′ 6″). On average, Gray short-tailed opossums can have babies 4 times per year with a litter size of 7.
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 gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is a small South American member of the family Didelphidae. Unlike most other marsupials, the gray short-tailed opossum does not have a true pouch. The scientific name Monodelphis is derived from Greek and means “single womb” (referring to the lack of a pouch) and the Latin word domestica which means “domestic” (chosen because of the species’ habit of entering human dwellings). It was the first marsupial to have its genome sequenced. The gray short-tailed opossum is used as a research model in science, and is also frequently found in the exotic pet trade. It is also known as the Brazilian opossum, rainforest opossum and in a research setting the laboratory opossum.
Animals of the same family as a Gray short-tailed opossum
We found other animals of the Didelphidae family:
- Chestnut-striped opossum with a weight of 45 grams
- Agile gracile opossum with a weight of 22 grams
- Dwarf fat-tailed mouse opossum with a weight of 20 grams
- Dusky slender opossum with a weight of 46 grams
- Bishop’s slender opossum with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Aceramarca gracile opossum with a weight of 20 grams
- Emilia’s short-tailed opossum with a weight of 52 grams
- Patagonian opossum with a weight of 78 grams
- Yellow-sided opossum with a weight of 45 grams
- Paraguayan fat-tailed mouse opossum with a weight of 34 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Gray short-tailed opossum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Monodelphis domestica:
- Zambian mole-rat bringing 76 grams to the scale
- Kalinowski’s Oldfield mouse bringing 77 grams to the scale
- Bramble Cay melomys bringing 100 grams to the scale
- Tanala tufted-tailed rat bringing 90 grams to the scale
- Wetzel’s climbing mouse bringing 89 grams to the scale
- Texas kangaroo rat bringing 106 grams to the scale
- Mazama pocket gopher bringing 93 grams to the scale
- Daphne’s Oldfield mouse bringing 77 grams to the scale
- Biak glider bringing 90 grams to the scale
- Bush vlei rat bringing 102 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Gray short-tailed opossum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Gray short-tailed opossum:
- Roman mole with a size of 14.5 cm (0′ 6″)
- Long-nosed mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 15.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Cerradomys subflavus with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Dwarf flying fox with a size of 14.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Echigo mole with a size of 16.9 cm (0′ 7″)
- White-throated woodrat with a size of 17.6 cm (0′ 7″)
- Sepia short-tailed opossum with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Nimba otter shrew with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
- Glacier rat with a size of 12.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Prairie vole with a size of 12.2 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Gray short-tailed opossum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (7) as a Gray short-tailed opossum:
- Lesser bandicoot rat
- Drylands vesper mouse
- Little ground squirrel
- Fat-tailed dunnart
- Stolička’s mountain vole
- Mediterranean water shrew
- Red-tailed phascogale
- Linnaeus’s mouse opossum
- Sakhalin vole
- Southern ningaui
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Gray short-tailed opossum
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Gray short-tailed opossum:
- Eurasian harvest mouse with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Lesser Egyptian jerboa with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Indian gerbil with an average maximal age of 7 years
- American pika with an average maximal age of 7 years
- Prevost’s squirrel with an average maximal age of 5.67 years
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse with an average maximal age of 5.17 years
- Long-tailed weasel with an average maximal age of 7.08 years
- Orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel with an average maximal age of 7.08 years
- Hispid cotton rat with an average maximal age of 5.17 years
- California ground squirrel with an average maximal age of 5 years