How big does a Rufous mouse opossum get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Rufous mouse opossum (Marmosa lepida) reaches an average size of 10.8 cm (0′ 5″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 14 grams (0.03 lbs). A Rufous mouse opossum has 5 babies at once. The Rufous mouse opossum (genus: Marmosa) is a member of the family Didelphidae.
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 rufous mouse opossum (Marmosa lepida) or little rufous mouse opossum is an opossum species from South America. The species has been found in Bolivia, Surinam, French Guinea, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Surinam in lowland tropical rainforest at altitudes from 100 to 1000 m. It is presumed to feed on insects and fruit, like its close relatives.It is considered a monotype. It is smaller in size and has a brighter red colored fur, distinguishing it from other congeners.Though the species has been known for over a century, very few specimens have been studied, most of these from areas below 600m and taken from western edges of the Amazon basin and Guianas. Its dorsal pelage is reddish-brown and its ventral pelage is grayish. Researchers believe this coloring is product of adaptation to a humid forest environment.
Animals of the same family as a Rufous mouse opossum
We found other animals of the Didelphidae family:
- White-bellied fat-tailed mouse opossum with a size of 8.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Grayish mouse opossum with 8 babies per litter
- Brown four-eyed opossum with a size of 26.1 cm (0′ 11″)
- Long-nosed short-tailed opossum with a size of 13.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- White-eared opossum with a size of 36 cm (1′ 3″)
- Handley’s slender opossum with a size of 11.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Water opossum with a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″)
- Osgood’s short-tailed opossum with a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Big-eared opossum with 6 babies per litter
- Linnaeus’s mouse opossum with a size of 12 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same size as a Rufous mouse opossum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Rufous mouse opossum:
- Goodwin’s broad-clawed shrew with a size of 9.4 cm (0′ 4″)
- Northwestern deer mouse with a size of 9.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Dormouse tufted-tailed rat with a size of 12.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Chiruromys lamia with a size of 11.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Mexican spiny pocket mouse with a size of 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Red-cheeked dunnart with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Cape elephant shrew with a size of 11.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Creeping vole with a size of 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Campbell’s dwarf hamster with a size of 9.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Panamanian spiny pocket mouse with a size of 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Rufous mouse opossum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (5) as a Rufous mouse opossum:
- Cape mole-rat
- Alston’s cotton rat
- Northwestern deer mouse
- Woosnam’s broad-headed mouse
- Gansu shrew
- Long-tailed dwarf hamster
- Dalton’s mouse
- Cliff chipmunk
- Winter white dwarf hamster
- Red wolf
Animals with the same weight as a Rufous mouse opossum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Marmosa lepida:
- Rufous horseshoe bat bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Large-eared slit-faced bat bringing 14 grams to the scale
- Rhinolophus hilli bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Dwarf bonneted bat bringing 12 grams to the scale
- Glacier Bay water shrew bringing 14 grams to the scale
- Visored bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Russet free-tailed bat bringing 16 grams to the scale
- Malayan slit-faced bat bringing 14 grams to the scale
- New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat bringing 13 grams to the scale
- Brown mastiff bat bringing 15 grams to the scale