A new species of Monodelphis (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) from southeastern Peru
Mammalian Biology
2004
Journal Article
69
3
145-152
Monodelphis systematics taxonomy Mammalia Marsupialia Didelphidae opossum new species systematics animals mammals marsupials distributions morphology Madre de Dios Bibliography
A new species of short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis) is described from the lowland forest of southeastern Peru. The new species is similar and more related to Monodelphis adusta Thomas, 1897, but is comparatively larger, and lighter in color. Other species known to occur in the area (M. emiliae and A. glirina) have no closer resemblance to the new species. Other characters useful to distinguish this new species are a heavy, broad, and extremely flattened skull, with a conspicuous sagittal crest. The premaxilla is short and the upper incisor rows are wide apart. During the comparisons of the new species with A. adusta, it became clear that two subspecies of the latter could be recognized and morphologically diagnosed: Monodelphis a. adusta and A. a. peruviana. Their distributions are limited to the south and to the north, respectively, by the Amazon River. The name A. melanops, described from Panama is a junior synonym of M. a. adusta, but A. osgoodi, described from the highlands of Bolivia, is a valid species, and probably has no close relationships to either M. adusta or the new species here described.