It is hard to guess what a Pygmy ringtail possum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Pygmy ringtail possum (Pseudochirulus mayeri) on average weights 151 grams (0.33 lbs).
The Pygmy ringtail possum is from the family Pseudocheiridae (genus: Pseudochirulus). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 19.8 cm (0′ 8″). Usually, Pygmy ringtail possums have 1 babies per litter.
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 pygmy ringtail possum (Pseudochirulus mayeri) is a species of marsupial in the family Pseudocheiridae. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in montane forest regions. They are “widespread along the Central Cordillera” and live at elevations between 1,500 and 3,600 metres (4,900 and 11,800 ft) above sea level.”Pygmy ringtails are herbivores or “arboreal folivores” that eat pollen, lichen, fungus and “epiphytic moss.” P. mayeri also eat the bark of trees, which provides them with calcium and potassium. They have “large incisor” teeth which help with “clipping forage from plants” and have “selenodont molars” that help with “shredding ingested foliage.” They have “an enlarged cecum that acts as a fermentation chamber” and allows “gut bacteria to breakdown [sic] plant tissue.” The extra retention time allows the pygmy ringtail to obtain more nutrients from the ingested forage.
Animals of the same family as a Pygmy ringtail possum
We found other animals of the Pseudocheiridae family:
- Pseudocheirus schlegeli with a weight of 256 grams
- Lemur-like ringtail possum with a weight of 997 grams
- Reclusive ringtail possum bringing 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs) to the scale
- Painted ringtail possum with a weight of 639 grams
- Painted ringtail possum with a weight of 642 grams
- Common ringtail possum with a weight of 895 grams
- D’Albertis’ ringtail possum with a weight of 796 grams
- Herbert River ringtail possum bringing 1.1 kilos (2.43 lbs) to the scale
- Weyland ringtail possum with a weight of 456 grams
- Green ringtail possum bringing 1.15 kilos (2.54 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Pygmy ringtail possum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Pseudochirulus mayeri:
- Lunda rope squirrel bringing 135 grams to the scale
- San Joaquin antelope squirrel bringing 160 grams to the scale
- Short-furred dasyure bringing 161 grams to the scale
- Chacoan tuco-tuco bringing 166 grams to the scale
- Thirteen-lined ground squirrel bringing 175 grams to the scale
- Littledale’s whistling rat bringing 126 grams to the scale
- Lowland streaked tenrec bringing 129 grams to the scale
- Middle East blind mole-rat bringing 164 grams to the scale
- Palawan spiny rat bringing 159 grams to the scale
- Broad-toothed mouse bringing 125 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Pygmy ringtail possum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Pygmy ringtail possum:
- Samar squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Striped bush squirrel with a size of 17.8 cm (0′ 8″)
- Guyenne spiny rat with a size of 22 cm (0′ 9″)
- Carruther’s mountain squirrel with a size of 22.9 cm (0′ 10″)
- Mountain treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- North African hedgehog with a size of 21.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- Golden-mantled ground squirrel with a size of 21.4 cm (0′ 9″)
- Large treeshrew with a size of 18.5 cm (0′ 8″)
- Small sun squirrel with a size of 19 cm (0′ 8″)
- Cerradomys subflavus with a size of 16 cm (0′ 7″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Pygmy ringtail possum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Pygmy ringtail possum: