Caluromys philander
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Bare-tailed Woolly Opossum
Taxonomy
| Subclass | : Theria |
| Infraclass | : Marsupialia |
| Superorder | : Ameridelphia |
| Order | : Didelphimorphia |
| Family | : Didelphidae |
| Subfamily | : Caluromyinae |
| Genus | : Caluromys |
| Subgenus | : Caluromys |
Species status
Authority citation
Linnaeus, C. 1758-01-01. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, 823 pp.
Authority publication link
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25033865Original name as described
Didelphis Philander
Type material
BMNH:Mamm:1867.4.12.414
Type kind
holotype
Type specimen URI
https://data.nhm.ac.uk/object/2abf7b9c-391f-4739-b4f4-1f3cae3e97efType locality
"America." Restricted by O. Thomas in 1911 to "Surinam."
Biogeographic realm
Neotropic
Country distribution
Venezuela · Guyana · Suriname · French Guiana · Brazil · Trinidad and Tobago
Distribution notes
E South America, throughout Venezuela, the Guianan Shield, and Trinidad I, S through much of Brazil into the Atlantic Forest region.
Distribution references
Voss, R. S. (2022). An annotated checklist of recent opossums (Mammalia: Didelphidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 455(1), 1-76.
Taxonomy notes
Included in the subgenus Caluromys, which is supported based on morphological traits and mitochondrial phylogenies (cytochrome b; Voss et al. 2019; Voss 2022). López-Fuster et al. (2008) used skull morphometrics to suggest that populations from Trinidad and northern Venezuela were a distinct species, _C. trinitatis_, but recent mitochondrial molecular data does not seem to support this, finding that most populations of _C. philander_ have low genetic diversity (Voss et al. 2019). However, some individuals from Bolivia were highly divergent from the rest of the species, suggesting that this population may be a distinct species; this species is thus in need of an integrative taxonomic revision (Voss 2022). Four subspecies have been recognized (Gardner 2008), although given the recent molecular and morphological assessments mentioned above, none appear to be valid, so the species is tentatively treated as monotypic here. Monotypic.
Taxonomy notes citation
Gardner, A. L. (2008). Genus Caluromys J. A. Allen, 1900. In: A. L. Gardner, Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 3-11. · López-Fuster, M. J., Hernández, R. P., & Ventura, J. (2008). Morphometrics of genus Caluromys (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in northern South America. Orsis: organismes i sistemes, 97-114. · Voss, R. S., Fleck, D. W., & Jansa, S. A. (2019). Mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in Amazonian Peru part 3: marsupials (Didelphimorphia). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2019(432), 1-90. · Voss, R. S. (2022). An annotated checklist of recent opossums (Mammalia: Didelphidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 455(1), 1-76.
IUCN Red List status
Least Concern
Species Permalink
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Names and synonyms
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