BLACK-EARED OPOSSUM Didelphis marsupialis Linnaeus, 1758 (LC)

MZUT T436 (694); mount; unsexed juv.; Suriname; 1845; purchased by G.A. Frank;

MZUT T437; skin; unsexed ad.; Vinces, Ecuador; IX/1897; Festa expedition (voucher number 93); MZUT T438; skin; female ad.; Vinces, Ecuador; IX/1897; Festa expedition (voucher number 109); MZUT T438 (MACUT 4666); skull;

MZUT T439 (1425); mount; unsexed ad.; Punta de Sabana, Darien, Panama; 1895; Festa expedition;

MZUT T439 (MACUT 3777); skull;

MZUT T440 (MACUT 3628); skull; female ad.; Darien (Ecuador); 1896 Festa expedition;

MZUT T441 (MACUT 7733); skull; unsexed ad.; Brazil; no date; donation by Alfonso Bovero.

Remarks: The specimen MZUT T436 was identified as Marmosa murina, but it was redetermined as Didelphis marsupialis due to its dorsal dark pelage, with long white guard hairs, extending well beyond the base of the tail, which is large and bicolored in the distal portion. The dark face and black ears also points to this species. The specimens MZUT T437 and 438 was undetermined and not reported in the MZUT catalogue. The specimen MZUT T439 was undetermined.

The specimen MZUT T440 was identified as Chironectes minimus, but the morphological qualitative and quantitative characters of the skull lead to redetermination as D. marsupialis (see Cerqueira & Lemos 2000; Voss & Jansa 2009). See also the skull measurements in Table 1. The skull MZUT T440 was undetermined.