Monodelphis Burnett, 1830

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 : 34-35

Monodelphis Burnett, 1830

Three species of Monodelphis are known from the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve, and no others seem likely to occur in the region. Two of the five subgenera recognized by Pavan and Voss (2016) are represented locally, Mygalodelphys with two species and Pyrodelphys with one. All three species are readily identified by external, craniodental, and morphometric traits (table 10). Because the Matses do not distinguish different species of Monodelphis , we summarize ethnobiological observations and Matses natural history under this generic heading.

ETHNOBIOLOGY: The Matses name for short-tailed opossums is yama, a term that is not linguistically analyzable. Curiously, yama is also used to refer to the turnip-tailed gecko ( Gekkonidae : Thecadactylus solimoensis ) and to an unidentified arboreal rat that was formerly used for black magic. 7 The Matses do not consider yama to be a type of cheka.

7 Several generations ago, according to the Matses, men of evil intention would concoct a poison from yama rats, which are said to be found on leafless trees that have recently died. The poisoner would place a large clay pot containing ripe plantains at the base of such a tree at night and hide nearby to wait. When the rat entered the pot and began to eat the plantains, the poisoner would place a lid over the pot and take it to an isolated hut. There, without lifting the lid, he would place the pot over a fire until the contents were completely burned. Next, he would gather the burned remnants into a length of bamboo, which was used as a mortar to grind the contents to dust and ash. This pulverized substance was then sprinkled on the head of a sleeping victim, who would breathe in the rat ashes, become insane, and die shortly afterward.

TABLE 10

The Matses do not eat short-tailed opossums and have no other use for them. Not all Matses are familiar with them.

MATSES NATURAL HISTORY: Short-tailed opossums are similar to mouse opossums, but they have very short tails. They are terrestrial, diurnal, solitary, and make nests in cavities among the roots of bottle palms ( Iriartea deltoidea ) and in hollows at the bases of trees. They are eaten by jaguarundi cats.