Chironectes minimus
(E. A. W. von Zimmermann, 1780)
Water Opossum
Taxonomy
| Subclass | : Theria |
| Infraclass | : Marsupialia |
| Superorder | : Ameridelphia |
| Order | : Didelphimorphia |
| Family | : Didelphidae |
| Subfamily | : Didelphinae |
| Tribe | : Didelphini |
| Genus | : Chironectes |
Species status
Authority citation
Zimmermann, E.A.W. von. 1780. Geographische Geschichte des Menschen, und der vierfüßigen Thiere. Zweiter Band. Weygandsche Buchhandlung, Leipzig, 432 pp.
Authority publication link
https://publikationsserver.tu-braunschweig.de/rsc/viewer/dbbs_derivate_00004650/max/00000330.jpg?logicalDiv=log_81542fc3-7f61-4948-8e52-e8fb9430aee3Original name as described
Latra minima
Other common names
Yapok
Type locality
"Gujana." Restricted by A. Cabrera in 1958 to "Cayenne, French Guiana."
Biogeographic realm
Nearctic · Neotropic
Country distribution
Mexico · Belize · Guatemala · El Salvador · Honduras · Nicaragua · Costa Rica · Panama · Colombia · Venezuela · Guyana · Suriname · French Guiana · Trinidad and Tobago · Ecuador · Peru · Bolivia · Brazil · Paraguay · Uruguay · Argentina
Distribution notes
Tropical Central and South America from S Mexico (Oaxaca, Tabasco, Chiapas) through much of Central America (other than W Guatamala and El Salvador), Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianan Shelf, Ecuador, Peru, N Bolivia, N, W, and SE Brazil, NE Argentina, and SE Paraguay. Not recorded throughout much of the Amazon Basin, although it is uncertain whether this is a true distribution gap or a sampling bias.
Distribution references
Ardente, N., Bergallo, H., Gettinger, D., Fonseca, R., & Martins-Hatano, F. (2013). Mammalia, didelphimorphia, didelphidae, Glironia venusta Thomas, 1912 and Chironectes minimus (Zimmermann, 1780): distribution extension for eastern Amazonia. Check List, 9(5), 1104-1107. · Brandão, M. V., Garbino, G. S. T., Godoy, L. P., da Silva, L. A., & Pascoal, W. (2015). New records of Chironectes minimus (Zimmermann, 1870)(Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) from central Brazil, with comments on its distribution pattern. Mammalia, 79(3), 363-368.
Taxonomy notes
Four subspecies have generally been recognized in recent literature (e.g., Marshall 1978; Stein and Patton 2008), while some have suggested that observed morphometric variation indicates that there may be multiple species of Chironectes (Domasceno and Astúa 2016; Cerqueira and Weber 2017). However, mitochondrial data (cytochrome b; Voss and Jansa 2019) has shown that there is very little genetic diversity across the range of the species (albeit based on only five widely dispersed individuals), suggesting _C. minimus_ likely represents a single, monotypic species that has either undergone recent geographic expansion or has ongoing gene flow between populations (Voss 2022). Further integrative taxonomic research is needed to confirm this. Monotypic.
Taxonomy notes citation
Marshall, L. G. (1978). Chironectes minimus. Mammalian Species, (109), 1-6. · Stein, B. R., and Patton, J. L. (2008). Genus Chironectes Illiger, 1811. In: A. L. Gardner, Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 14-17. · Voss, R. S., & Jansa, S. A. (2009). Phylogenetic relationships and classification of didelphid marsupials, an extant radiation of New World metatherian mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2009(322), 1-177. · Damasceno, E. M., & Astúa, D. (2016). Geographic variation in cranial morphology of the Water Opossum Chironectes minimus (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae). Mammalian Biology, 81, 380-392. · Cerqueira, R., & Weber, M. M. (2017). Geographic morphometric and environmental differentiation of the water opossum, genus Chironectes Illiger, 1811 (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae). Mammalia, 81(3), 275-287. · Voss, R. S., & Jansa, S. A. (2019). Minimal genetic divergence among South American samples of the water opossum Chironectes minimus: evidence for transcontinental gene flow?. Mammalia, 83(2), 190-192.
IUCN Red List status
Least Concern
Species Permalink
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Names and synonyms
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