It is hard to guess what a Tasmanian pygmy possum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Tasmanian pygmy possum (Cercartetus lepidus) on average weights 8 grams (0.02 lbs).
The Tasmanian pygmy possum is from the family Burramyidae (genus: Cercartetus). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 6.1 cm (0′ 3″). Usually, Tasmanian pygmy possums have 3 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 Tasmanian pygmy possum (Cercartetus lepidus), also known as the little pygmy possum, is the world’s smallest possum. It was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1888, after he identified that a museum specimen labelled as an eastern pygmy possum in fact represented a species then unknown to science. The holotype resides in the British Museum of Natural History.
Animals of the same family as a Tasmanian pygmy possum
We found other animals of the Burramyidae family:
- Long-tailed pygmy possum with a weight of 23 grams
- Eastern pygmy possum with a weight of 27 grams
- Mountain pygmy possum with a weight of 44 grams
- Western pygmy possum with a weight of 15 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Tasmanian pygmy possum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Cercartetus lepidus:
- Hoary wattled bat bringing 8 grams to the scale
- Large-toothed shrew bringing 8 grams to the scale
- Mount Kenya mole shrew bringing 9 grams to the scale
- Sind bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Jackson’s shrew bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Mexican big-eared bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
- Davy’s naked-backed bat bringing 9 grams to the scale
- Shamel’s horseshoe bat bringing 9 grams to the scale
- Long-legged bat bringing 8 grams to the scale
- Geoffroy’s bat bringing 7 grams to the scale
Animals with the same litter size as a Tasmanian pygmy possum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Tasmanian pygmy possum: