Philander opossum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Fonda, Federica, Vezzani, Liam, Mena Aguilar, Luis Ángel, Venegas-Elizondo, Carlos Andrés, Bolaños Brenes, Alexander, Lopez, Dayron Manuel, Romeo, Giuseppe, Sonetti, Dario & Dal Zotto, Matteo, 2025, Mammal diversity and tourism influence in an under-investigated region of Costa Rica, ZooKeys 1260, pp. 37-74 : 37-74

Philander opossum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Material examined.

Costa Rica • Puntarenas Province, Karen Mogensen Wildlife Refuge ; 09°52'05"N, 085°03'32"W; 290 m alt.; 05.02.2019; direct observation .

Identification.

Medium-sized opossum, with nocturnal habits. Characterised by a white chin with darker upper labia, whitish belly and feet and a nearly uniform greyish brown dorsum. The ears are large and naked, rims are black, and a pale spot is present on forehead at medial base of ears. The tail is relatively small. Nose, lips, toes, and a region above chin are pink ( Wainwright 2007). Recorded in various habitat types in the study area. Some authors split P. opossum into eight species and consider Costa Rican populations as P. melanurus ( Voss et al. 2018; Reid and Gόmez Zamora 2022).