Mammals · Didelphimorphia · Didelphidae

Central American Woolly Opossum

Caluromys derbianus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The Central American woolly opossum is a tree-dwelling marsupial with a soft, dense coat, quite unlike the coarse fur of the common opossums, with large dark eyes and a prehensile tail that is bare along its outer half. It lives in the canopy and hardly ever comes to the ground. It feeds mainly on fruit and nectar, supplemented with insects, and is an important pollinator and seed disperser in the forests where it lives.

Weight

200 g – 400 g

Size

20 cm – 30 cm

Lifespan

5 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

RainforestOmnivore Nocturnal Solitary Rainforest Mammal

10countries 40parks5same family

Fun facts

It is a pollinator: by pushing its muzzle into the large flowers of balsa and other tropical plants to drink nectar, it carries pollen between trees hundreds of metres apart.
Unlike the common opossums, which are noisy and aggressive, this one is unobtrusive and gentle in its movements: naturalists describe it as more like a small lemur than an opossum.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Canopy of rainforest, secondary forest and cacao plantations in Central America and north-western South America
Sexual maturity: 7.9 months
Gestation / incubation: 21 days
Litter / clutch size: 3

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caluromys_derbianus