Elegant fat-tailed opossum
| Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Didelphimorphia |
| Family: | Didelphidae |
| Genus: | Thylamys |
| Species: | T. elegans |
| Binomial name | |
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Thylamys elegans (Waterhouse, 1839) |
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| Range of the elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum | |
| Synonyms | |
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Didelphis elegans Waterhose, 1839 |
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Didelphis elegans Waterhose, 1839
Didelphys soricina Philippi, 1894
Marmosa tatei Handley, 1956
The elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum (Thylamys elegans), also known as the Chilean mouse opossum, is an opossum from central Chile. The type species of Thylamys, it was first described by English naturalist George Robert Waterhouse in 1839. This medium-sized opossum is characterized by black rings around the eyes, white limbs, gray to light brown coat, lighter flanks and underbelly and a thick 12.7–14.6 centimetres (5.0–5.7 in) long tail covered with hairs. It is crepuscular (active mainly around twilight) and lives in nests in tree hollows or under rocks and roots. This opossum feeds mainly on arthropods and larvae apart from fruits. Litter size is typically between 11 and 13. The elegant fat-tailed opossum can occur in a variety of habitats – from cloud forests to chaparrals. The IUCN classifies the opossum as least concern.
The elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum is the type species of Thylamys, and is placed in the family Didelphidae. It was first described by English naturalist George Robert Waterhouse as Didelphis elegans in 1839. It was given its present binomial name by English zoologist John Edward Gray in 1843.
The cladogram below, based on a 2016 study, shows the phylogenetic relationships of the elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum.
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