Caluromys lanatus (Olfers, 1818)

Voss, Robert S., Fleck, David W. & Jansa, Sharon A., 2019, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 3: Marsupials (Didelphimorphia), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2019 (432), pp. 1-89 : 14-17

Caluromys lanatus (Olfers, 1818)

VOUCHER MATERIAL (TOTAL = 6): Jenaro Herrera (AMNH 276706), Nuevo San Juan (AMNH 273038, 273059; MUSM 11024, 15290, 15291).

OTHER INTERFLUVIAL RECORDS: Jenaro Herrera ( Fleck and Harder, 1995), San Pedro ( Valqui, 1999).

IDENTIFICATION: Caluromys lanatus has never been revised, and several subspecies are currently recognized as valid (Gardner, 2008). To assess the taxonomic significance of the current trinomial classification, we analyzed sequence data from the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome b, and we examined specimens from throughout western Amazonia, where no fewer than three subspecies— C. l. nattereri (Matschie, 1917), C. l. ochropus (Wagner, 1842), and C. l. ornatus (Tschudi, 1845)—are said to occur. Unfortunately, representative sequence data are currently unavailable from the nominotypical subspecies (in Paraguay), C. l. cicur (Bangs, 1898; in transAndean Colombia), and C. l. vitalinus (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1936; in southeastern Brazil), so the materials at hand are insufficient for a comprehensive revision of the species.

The results of our molecular analysis (figs. 7, 8; table 1; appendix 3) provide robust support for the reciprocal monophyly of all three currently recognized species of Caluromys , but only weak support for monophyly of the subgenus Mallodelphys (= C. derbianus + C. lanatus ). Remarkably, we recovered only shallow phylogeographic structure in C. derbianus and none at all in C. lanatus , both of which exhibit negligible sequence variation among samples collected at widely scattered localities. By contrast, our samples of C. philander reveal noteworthy genetic heterogeneity in that species, which clearly merits revisionary attention. 2

The absence of phylogeographic structure among genetic samples of Caluromys lanatus from widely scattered populations in western Amazonia and central Brazil suggests that the subspecies currently recognized from these regions are based on nothing more than coatcolor variants. In fact, western Amazonian specimens of C. lanatus exhibit considerable variation in pelage coloration. Whereas some individuals are almost uniformly reddish brown dorsally (e.g., MVZ 157611), others have distinctly grayish fore- and hind limbs (e.g., MVZ 190249, USNM 546177), and others are almost uniformly brownish (e.g., MUSM 15291). The base of the tail is reddish in some specimens, but grayish in others. A patch of grayish hair between the shoulders (said to be diagnostic of C. derbianus ; Cáceres and Carmignotto, 2006) is present in several specimens among those we examined (e.g., MVZ 157608, 190249, 190250). Most specimens have uniformly gray-based fur on the throat, chest, and upper abdomen as well as on the ventral surfaces of the forelimbs, but others have irregular patches of self-cream fur on the throat and in the forelimb axillae; the lower abdomen and groin are seemingly always 2 Our geographic samples of Caluromys philander are far too few to support taxonomic conclusions, but it should be pointed out that the haplogroups we recovered are impossible to reconcile with the current trinomial nomenclature for this species, nor do they correspond to the taxa recognized by López-Fuster et al. (2008), who suggested, inter alia, that the Trinidadian form (trinitatis Thomas, 1894) is a distinct species.

Bocas del Toro (4) − USNM 578119: Heredia (1) − KU 164643 C. derbianus Bocas del Toro (3) − USNM 464247 Cotopaxi (2) − QCAZ 8663 Loreto (13) − TTU 101044 Acre (6) − MVZ 190250 Loreto (14) − AMNH 273059 * Loreto (14) − AMNH 273038 * Cusco (12) − LHE1463 Amazonas (11) − MVZ 153276 Amazonas (10) − LHE1103 C. lanatus Mato Grosso (8) − MVZ 197383 r: Orellana, (9) − ROM 104570: Pando (5) − MSB 56998 Madre de Dios (15) − KU 144058 Amazonas (7) − MVZ 190248 Loreto (13) − TTU 99025 Bolivia: Santa Cruz (17) − LHE1696 Bolivia: Santa Cruz (16) − LHE1695 (24) − AMNH 174003 Tocantins (21) − MVZ 197385 Mato Grosso (18) − MVZ 197384 C. philander Demerara−Mahaica (23) − ROM 112676 Guiana (22) − T2020 Guiana (22) − MMNH 1998.31 Minas Gerais (19) − MVZ 197586 São Paulo (20) − MAM142

self-cream, but parous females have orangestained fur surrounding the pouch. Although some of this pelage variation might be geographic, there are substantial differences in coloration among sympatrically collected skins, and intermediates exist among most coat-color phenotypes. Cranial size and shape differences among the specimens we examined do not suggest anything more than individual and ontogenetic variation. In effect, we concur with Fonseca and Astúa’s (2015) suggestion that only a single phenotypically distinguishable taxon, which they called C. lanatus ochropus , occurs in the Amazon and Cerrado.

The holotype of Caluromys lanatus , a juvenile specimen from Paraguay collected in the late 18th century, was originally preserved in alcohol; its pelage is discolored, and few useful measurements can be obtained from the incompletely erupted dentition ( Voss et al., 2009a). However, recently collected Paraguayan adults (AMNH 66780, UMMZ 134007) have very pale, almost entirely grayish fur that lacks the rich reddish-brown pigments seen in most western Amazonian specimens; additionally, the naked caudal skin (distal to the furry basal portion) is completely unpigmented, whereas most western Amazonian specimens have dark-spotted tails. Metrical comparisons (table 2) indicate that these Paraguayan specimens are smaller than western Amazonian material in several dimensions (e.g., condylobasal length), but both of them are young adults, and measurements of age-invariant struc- tures (e.g., LM, WM3) are within the observed range of western Amazonian variation. With just two Paraguayan examples at hand, and in the absence of any relevant molecular data, it is hard to assess the taxonomic significance of such comparisons, or to properly evaluate Fonseca and Astúa’s (2015) suggestion that C. l. ochropus is really distinct from the nominotypical form.

ETHNOBIOLOGY: The Matses name for the woolly opossum is abuk cheka, which literally means “up opossum,” in reference to its arboreal habits. The Matses do not eat or use the woolly opossum for any purpose, nor do they seem to have any particular beliefs about it.

MATSES NATURAL HISTORY: The woolly opossum is reddish. It has a stripe going down its rostrum. Its tail is partly bare. Its ears are large.

The woolly opossum is arboreal, but it sometimes descends to the ground to forage. It descends by climbing down a vine. It is found in all rainforest habitat types. It makes its nest in tree cavities that it lines with leaves. It also makes nests in the branches of dicot trees, or in leaf litter that collects in palm crowns.

The woolly opossum is nocturnal. After foraging for dicot tree fruits and insects during the night, it returns to its nest at dawn. It climbs quickly on vines.

The woolly opossum is solitary. It gives birth to many young that it keeps in its pouch. The young suck milk inside the pouch. When the young get big, they leave their mother, one by one.

Margays and snakes prey on the western woolly opossum.

When the wooly opossum sees people, it opens its mouth and hisses, wanting to bite them.

The woolly opossum eats crickets/katydids (the Matses do not distinguish lexically between crickets and katydids), cockroaches that live up in trees, armored millipedes ( Barydesmus ) that are on the ground, dicot tree fruits including those of the bata ( Pseudolmedia spp. and/or? Maquira spp. ; Fam. Moraceae ), kuëte bata trees (? Pseudolmedia ; Fam. Moraceae ), kuëte mëdiad (unidentified tree with starchy fruits that the Matses cook before eating), and vine fruits. It also eats the mesocarp of ripe isan palms ( Oenocarpus bataua ) that have not fallen to the ground yet.

REMARKS: Four of our six vouchers were shot from trees at night by Matses hunters, three in secondary forest (abandoned swiddens) and one in hilltop primary forest; heights were not recorded, but the specimen shot in primary forest was said to be “very high up in a big tree” (English translation from Matses field notes). One specimen was captured by hand in the late afternoon by several boys, who shook it from the crown of a small guaba tree ( Fabaceae : Inga edulis ) on the outskirts of the village. The specimen from Jenaro Herrera was trapped on a liana 18 m above the ground in disturbed primary forest.

OTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED (TOTAL = 29): Bolivia — Pando, Isla Gargantua (MSB 56998) . Brazil — Acre, Nova Vida on right bank Rio Juruá (MVZ 190250, 190251), opposite Igarapé Porongaba on left bank Rio Juruá (MVZ 190249), Sena Madureira (USNM 546177) ; Amazonas, opposite Altamira on left bank Rio Juruá (MVZ 190248), Rosarinho (AMNH 92760), Sacado on right bank Rio Juruá (MVZ 190247) . Ecuador — Napo, San Jose Abajo (AMNH 68282) ; Orellana, Parque Nacional Yasuní (ROM 104570). Paraguay — Caazapá, Caazapá (MNCN-M2630 [holotype] ; Canendiyu , 13.3 km N Curuguaty (UMMZ 134007) ; Guairá, Villarrica (AMNH 66780). Peru — Amazonas, La Poza on Río Santiago (MVZ 157608, 157611, 157612) ; Huánuco, Tingo Maria (MVZ 140041) ; Loreto, Boca Río Curaray (AMNH 71979, 71983, 71984), Estación Biológica Allpahuayo (TTU 99025, 101044) ; Madre de Dios, Reserva Cusco Amazónico (KU 144058, MVZ 168852) ; Pasco, Nevati Mission (AMNH 230001), San Juan (USNM 364160) ; Ucayali, Boca Río Urubamba (AMNH 75911), Lagarto (AMNH 78951) . Venezuela — Amazonas, Esmeralda (AMNH 76970) .