Brown-eared woolly opossum

Brown-eared woolly opossum
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Didelphimorphia
Family:	Caluromyidae
Genus:	Caluromys
Subgenus:	Mallodelphys
Species:	C. lanatus
Binomial name
Caluromys lanatus (Olfers, 1818)
Subspecies
C. l. cicur (Bangs, 1898) C. l. lanatus (Olfers, 1818) C. l. ochropus (Wagner, 1842) C. l. ornatus (Tschudi, 1845)
Brown-eared woolly opossum range
Synonyms
List Caluromys circur Allen, 1900 C. laniger Allen, 1900 C. ochropus Thomas, 1901 C. ornatus Thomas, 1901 Didelphis lanigera Desmarest, 1820 Didelphys lanigera Waterhouse, 1841 D. ochropus Wagner, 1842 D. ornata Tschudi. 1845 Micoureus bartletti Matschie, 1917 M. cahyensis Matschie, 1917 M. juninensis Matschie, 1917 M. lanigera Lesson, 1842 M. meridensis Matschie, 1917 M. nattereri Matschie, 1917 M. ochropus Matschie, 1916 M. ornatus Matschie, 1916 Philander circur Bangs, 1898 P. laniger Cabrera, 1916 P. ornatus Bangs, 1898

The brown-eared woolly opossum (Caluromys lanatus), also known as the western woolly opossum, is an opossum from South America. It was first described by German naturalist Ignaz von Olfers in 1818. The opossum is characterized by a brown to reddish brown coat and similarly colored limbs, yellow to orange underbelly, hairless, brown ears with a hint of pink, and a tail furred on the back for up to half of its length. The brown-eared woolly opossum is nocturnal (active mainly at night), solitary and omnivorous. The IUCN lists it as least concern.

The brown-eared woolly opossum is one of the three members of Caluromys, and is placed in the family Didelphidae. It was first described by German naturalist Ignaz von Olfers as Didelphys lanata in 1818. It was given its present binomial name, Caluromys lanatus, by American zoologist Joel Asaph Allen in 1900.

A 1955 revision of marsupial phylogeny grouped Caluromys, Caluromysiops, Dromiciops (monito del monte) and Glironia (bushy-tailed opossum) under a single subfamily, Microbiotheriinae, noting the dental similarities among these. A 1977 study argued that these similarities are the result of convergent evolution, and placed Caluromys, Caluromysiops and Glironia in a new subfamily, Caluromyinae. In another similar revision, the bushy-tailed opossum was placed in its own subfamily, Glironiinae.

The following four subspecies are recognized:

Two additional subspecies, C. l. nattereri and C. l. vitalinus, are sometimes recognised, but have been considered to be junior synonyms of C. l. lanatus and C. l. ochropus, respectively.

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