30.

Osgood’s Short-tailed Opossum

Monodelphis osgoodi

French: Opossum d'Osgood / German: Osgoods Spitzmausbeutelratte / Spanish: Colicorto de Osgood

Other common names: Highland Short-tailed Opossum

Taxonomy. Monodelphis peruvianus osgoodi Doutt, 1938,

“ Incachaca, Department of Cochabamba, Bolivia; altitude 2600 meters.”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. E Andean slopes of SE Peru and W Bolivia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 6.6-2 cm, tail 9.4-9.6 cm; weight 18-29 g. Dorsal fur of Osgood’s Short-tailed Opossum is cinnamon brown or gray-brown, and ventral fur is mostly gray with pale brown hues, contrasting with body sides. Females probably lack a pouch, and number of mammae is unknown. Karyotypeis also unknown.

Habitat. Only montane forests at elevations of 1900-3200 m. There are no records of Osgood’s Short-tailed Opossum from secondary forests or outside of forest habitat.

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. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Although Osgood’s Short-tailed Opossum is seldom recorded and little is known of biology and behavior,its distribution is considered to be relatively wide, and it is thought to be tolerant of human disturbance. Forest in much ofits distribution is under protection in Peru and Bolivia, although there is localized forest loss.

Bibliography. Eisenberg & Redford (1999), Emmons & Feer (1997), Gardner (2005), Lew & Pérez-Hernandez (2004), Pine & Handley (2007), Solari (2007).