It is hard to guess what a Mountain pygmy possum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus) on average weights 44 grams (0.1 lbs).
The Mountain pygmy possum is from the family Burramyidae (genus: Burramys). They can live for up to 12 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 11.4 cm (0′ 5″). On average, Mountain pygmy possums can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 3.
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 mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus) is a small, mouse-sized (weighs 45 grams (1.6 oz)) nocturnal marsupial of Australia found in dense alpine rock screes and boulder fields, mainly southern Victoria and around Mount Kosciuszko in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales at elevations from 1,300 to 2,230 metres (4,270 to 7,320 ft). At almost 14 cm (5.5 in), its prehensile tail is longer than its 11 cm (4.3 in) combined head and body length. Its diet consists of insects (such as the bogong moth), fleshy fruits, nuts, nectar and seeds. Its body is covered in a thick coat of fine grey fur except for its stomach, which is cream coloured; its tail is hairless. On the underside of the female’s body is a pouch containing four teats. This possum is the only extant species in the genus Burramys. It is also the only Australian mammal restricted to alpine habitat.
Animals of the same family as a Mountain pygmy possum
We found other animals of the Burramyidae family:
- Long-tailed pygmy possum with a weight of 23 grams
- Tasmanian pygmy possum with a weight of 8 grams
- Western pygmy possum with a weight of 15 grams
- Eastern pygmy possum with a weight of 27 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Mountain pygmy possum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Burramys parvus:
- Sepia short-tailed opossum bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Four-striped grass mouse bringing 40 grams to the scale
- Handleyomys chapmani bringing 49 grams to the scale
- Round-eared tube-nosed fruit bat bringing 48 grams to the scale
- Golden spiny mouse bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Rock dormouse bringing 46 grams to the scale
- Dorothy’s slender opossum bringing 37 grams to the scale
- Gulf Coast kangaroo rat bringing 49 grams to the scale
- Ruwenzori thicket rat bringing 41 grams to the scale
- European snow vole bringing 48 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Mountain pygmy possum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Mountain pygmy possum:
- Western New Guinea mountain rat with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Long-tailed dunnart with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Commerson’s roundleaf bat with a size of 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Island tube-nosed fruit bat with a size of 13.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Chestnut-striped opossum with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Pygmy tarsier with a size of 10 cm (0′ 4″)
- Black-tailed dasyure with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Broad-striped tube-nosed fruit bat with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- California chipmunk with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Sculptor squirrel with a size of 12 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Mountain pygmy possum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Mountain pygmy possum:
- Bunny rat
- Asian palm civet
- Hooper’s mouse
- Lesser mole-rat
- Himalayan pika
- Griselda’s striped grass mouse
- Long-eared hedgehog
- Desert kangaroo rat
- Tasmanian pygmy possum
- Northern flying squirrel
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Mountain pygmy possum
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Mountain pygmy possum:
- Banded linsang with an average maximal age of 10.67 years
- Crab-eating mongoose with an average maximal age of 13.33 years
- Blue duiker with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Horsfield’s tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Fulvus roundleaf bat with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Naked mole-rat with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Red acouchi with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Pudú with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Agile wallaby with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Pale fox with an average maximal age of 10 years