Little woolly dwarf pouch rat
| Little woolly dwarf pouch rat | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Marmosa phaea | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1899 |
The small woolly pygmy rat ( Marmosa phaea ) is a species of marsupial that occurs in the Departamento de Nariño in southwestern Colombia, in western Ecuador and possibly also in the Tumbes region in northwestern Peru on the western slopes of the Andes.
description
The animals reach a head body length of 12.1 to 17 cm, and have a 15.3 to 23.6 cm long tail. The tail is thus on average around 30% longer than the head and torso combined. The only specimen weighed so far had a weight of 63 g. The fur on the back and the fur on the sides of the body is brown. The fur on the belly side is yellow-brown to light orange. There are inconspicuous narrow dark circles around the black eyes. The chin and cheeks are yellow-brown. The ears are brown. The 2 cm of the tail, which is close to the body, are hairy. The rest is hairless and colored brown. The tip of the tail is often white. Females do not have a pouch. The number of teats is nine, four on each side and one in the middle. The karyotype is unknown.
Habitat and way of life
The little woolly pygmy bag rat lives in moist, evergreen forests on the plains and in mountain forests up to heights of 1500 meters. Little is known about their behavior, their diet, their activity patterns and their reproduction. Like other pygmy sac rats, it will feed on insects and fruits.
status
The IUCN classifies the population of the small woolly dwarf sacred rat as endangered (Vulnerable). Their habitat is highly fragmented by arable land and human settlements and it is assumed that the population of animals is declining by more than 30% per decade.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d Diego Astúa: Family Didelphidae (Opossums). in Don E. Wilson , Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. Lynx Editions, 2015, ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6 . Page 144.
- ↑ Marmosa Phaea in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2015 Posted by: Solari, S. & Patterson, B., 2014. Retrieved on February 23 of 2019.