Monodelphis sanctaerosae, Burnett, 1830

Astúa, D., 2015, Didelphidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 129-186 : 152

40.

Santa Rosa Short-tailed Opossum

Monodelphis sanctaerosae

French: Opossum de Santa Rosa / German: Santa Rosa-Spitzmausbeutelratte / Spanish: Colicorto de Santa Rosa

Taxonomy. Monodelphis sanctaerosae Voss, Pine & Solari, 2012 ,

Santa Rosa de la Roca, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. E Bolivia (Santa Cruz), known from only the type specimen.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 10-8 cm, tail 6 cm; weight 23 g. Dorsal fur of the Santa Rosa Short-tailed Opossum resembles that of the Gray Short-tailed Opossum ( Monodelphis domestica ); it is uniformly grizzled brownish-gray from crown to rump and paler on body sides. Sides of head are pale reddish. Tail length is ¢.55% of head-body length,tail has fur on proximal 10 mm dorsally and ventrally, and naked rest oftail is distinctly bicolored, dark dorsally, and markedly paler ventrally. Ventral furis pale beige, with gray-based hairs. Ears are small, uniformly colored, probably brownish gray in life, and appear naked. The only known specimen is a female, lacking a pouch; number of mammae cannot be established because teats are not visible. Although a suspension of bone-marrow cells in Carnoy’s fixative from the single known specimen is reported,its karyotype has not been published.

Habitat. Mosaic of upland savanna with scattered trees, closed-canopy dry forest, and seasonally flooded grassland. The only specimen of the Santa Rosa Short-tailed Opossum was collected near a seasonally flooded grassy area bordered by savanna and forest.

Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. The Santa Rosa Short-tailed Opossum has not been assessed on The IUCN Red List because it was described after the last assessment of conservation status of opossums. Conservation status of all opossumsis being reassessed by the IUCN New World Marsupial Specialists Group, but it will not be possible to evaluate the status of the Santa Rosa Short-tailed Opossum based on a single, recently collected specimen.

Bibliography. Anderson (1997), Pine & Handley (2007), Solari (2010), Voss et al. (2012).

Figures

65. Pygmy Opossum (Chacodelphys formosa), 66. Agricola’s Opossum (Cryptonanus agricola), 67. Chacoan Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus chacoensis), 68. Guaiba Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus guahybae), 69. Unduavi Mouse Opossum (Cryptonanus unduaviensis), 70. . Emilie’s. 9 Opossum.. Gracilinanus. (null), 71. Aceramarca Opossum (Gracilinanus aceramarcae), 72. Agile Opossum (Gracilinanus agilis), 73. Wood Sprite Opossum (Gracilinanus dryas), 74. Northern Gracile Opossum (Gracilinanus marica), 75. Brazilian Gracile Opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus)

Distribution. E Bolivia (Santa Cruz), known from only the type specimen.