How big does a Mountain pygmy possum get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus) reaches an average size of 11.4 cm (0′ 5″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). Usually, they reach an age of 12 years. A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 44 grams (0.1 lbs). Talking about reproduction, Mountain pygmy possums have 3 babies about 1 times per year. The Mountain pygmy possum (genus: Burramys) is a member of the family Burramyidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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 size of 9.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Tasmanian pygmy possum with 3 babies per litter
- Eastern pygmy possum with 3 babies per litter
- Western pygmy possum with 4 babies per litter
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:
- Temminck’s striped mouse with a size of 12.1 cm (0′ 5″)
- Big-eared woolly bat with a size of 10.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Singing vole with a size of 11.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Macroscelides proboscideus with a size of 11.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit bat with a size of 13.1 cm (0′ 6″)
- Irenomys with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Large tree mouse with a size of 13.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Swift fruit bat with a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Great fruit-eating bat with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Meadow vole with a size of 11.8 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:
- Pyrenean desman
- Southern short-tailed shrew
- Trowbridge’s shrew
- Fat sand rat
- Kobe mole
- Water deer
- Desert cottontail
- Altai birch mouse
- Striped hog-nosed skunk
- Kemp’s gerbil
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Mountain pygmy possum
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Mountain pygmy possum:
- Blue duiker with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Beira (antelope) with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Oncilla with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Heterohyrax antineae with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Spectral tarsier with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Cape grysbok with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Malabar large-spotted civet with an average maximal age of 14 years
- Yellow-footed rock-wallaby with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Jamaican fruit bat with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Pale fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
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:
- Single-striped grass mouse bringing 50 grams to the scale
- Jalapan pine vole bringing 40 grams to the scale
- Fringe-lipped bat bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Haggard’s leaf-eared mouse bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Spotted bolo mouse bringing 37 grams to the scale
- Neuquén grass mouse bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Cape elephant shrew bringing 49 grams to the scale
- Little collared fruit bat bringing 44 grams to the scale
- Tarabundí vole bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Olive grass mouse bringing 39 grams to the scale