Monodelphis vossi
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| Monodelphis vossi | ||||||||||||
| Pavan , 2018 |
Monodelphis vossi is a marsupial from the genus of the shrew pouch rats ( Monodelphis ). The species occurs in savannahs in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Roraima . It was only described in January 2019 and named in honor of the mammalogen Robert S. Voss , who did a great job of researching South American mammals, especially the opossums.
features
The specimens examined for the first description , two young but fully grown males and an older male, had a head body length of 12.7 to 16.2 cm, a 7.2 to 9.3 cm long tail, 18 to 21 mm long hind feet and a condylobasal length of 31.1 to 38.9 mm. The skull is relatively flat when viewed from the side. The back and top of the head of Monodelphis vossi are gray, the sides of the body are strikingly orange. The fur on the stomach, chest, throat and chin is gray to cream-colored with an orange tinge. There is no clear dividing line between the orange sides and the color of the bottom. The belly hairs are gray at the base and have a yellowish to cream-colored tip. The body colors also extend to the first fifth of the tail. The scales on the hairless tail section are arranged in rings. On the middle of the back and on the shoulders, the hair is about 8 mm long, on the belly it is 5 to 6 mm long. The vibrissae are blackish, the longest vibrissas reach back behind the eyes. Front and rear paws are covered with brownish hair on their upper side. Since there is no female among the type specimens , the number of teats is not yet known.
Monodelphis vossi differs from all other species of the subgenus Monodelphis by its flat skull. In the range of the species there are no other species of the shrew pouch rats. Von Reig's shrew-pouch rat ( M. reigi ), which occurs in neighboring eastern Venezuela and western Guyana, differs from Monodelphis vossi in its small size and almost monochrome fur. From Arlindos shrew opossum ( M. arlindoi ) that is found in central and southern Guyana and in parts of north-eastern Brazil, and from the Guiana Shrew Opossum ( M. brevicaudata ) that the Orinoco is spreading south in Guyana and Venezuela, differs Monodelphis vossi mainly because of their lighter color.
So far nothing is known about the way of life of Monodelphis vossi .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Silvia E. Pavan: A revision of the Monodelphis glirina group (Didelphidae: Marmosini), with a description of a new species from Roraima, Brazil. Journal of Mammalogy, January 2019, pp. 1–15 doi : 10.1093 / jmammal / gyy165