Marmosa rapposa

O. Thomas, 1899

Bolivian Woolly Mouse Opossum

Taxonomy

Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Superorder: incertae sedis
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae
Subfamily: Didelphinae
Tribe: Marmosini
Genus: Marmosa
Subgenus: Micoureus

Species status

Living
Found in the wild

Authority citation

Thomas, O. 1899-01-01. On some small mammals from the District of Cuzco, Peru. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7)3(13):40-44.

Original name as described

Marmosa rapposa

Type material

BMNH:Mamm:1898.11.6.13

Type kind

holotype

Type locality

Huadquiña, Distrito Santa Teresa, Valle de la Convención, Cusco, Peru.

Biogeographic realm

Neotropic

Country distribution

Argentina · Bolivia · Brazil · Paraguay · Peru

Distribution notes

E slopes of the Andes in SE Peru, Bolivia, and NW Argentina, and from lowlands of E Bolivia, Paraguay, and SW Brazil.

Taxonomy notes

Moved from Micoureus to Marmosa; split from regina; includes budini, which is sometimes regarded as a distinct species although further research is needed (see Ribeiro et al. 2026). The type locality of rapposa is in southern Peru, near the western edge of the species range, and the type specimen of rapposa is morphologically atypical. A recent study regarded budini as a distinct species distributed over most of the current species range, leaving rapposa restricted to Peru, based primarily on divergent DNA sequence data from some specimens from Peru. However, they did not compare data from their specimens with previously published sequence data from the holotype of rapposa.

Taxonomy notes citation

Voss, R.S., Gutiérrez, E.E., Solari, S., Rossi, R.V. and Jansa, S.A. 2014. Phylogenetic relationships of mouse opossums (Didelphidae, Marmosa) with a revised subgeneric classification and notes on sympatric diversity. American Museum Novitates 3817:1-27. doi:10.1206/3817.1 · Voss, R.S., Fleck, D.W. and Jansa, S.A. 2019. Mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in Amazonian Peru. Part 3: marsupials (Didelphimorphia). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 432:1-90. doi:10.1206/0003-0090.432.1.1 · Voss, R.S., Giarla, T.C., Díaz-Nieto, J.F. and Jansa, S.A. 2020. A revision of the didelphid marsupial genus Marmosa. Part 2. Species of the rapposa group (subgenus Micoureus). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 439:1-62. doi:10.1206/0003-0090.439.1.1 · Giarla, T.C. and Voss, R.S. 2020. On the identity of Victoria's mouse opossum, Marmosa regina Thomas, 1898. American Museum Novitates 3960:1-16. doi:10.1206/3960.1 · Ribeiro, M.C.S., Caccavo, A., Prado, J.R. do and Bonvicino, C.R. 2026. Systematics of Marmosa subgenus Micoureus With emphasis in 'rapposa' group (Didelphidae, Marmosini): Geographic variation and revalidation of M. budini. Zoologica Scripta (in press). doi:10.1111/zsc.70057

IUCN Red List status

Not Evaluated

Country distribution map

The map below provides a general overview. Most species inhabit only specific regions within countries. Hover over the highlighted regions to see the country name.

Names and synonyms

Present and past (if available) associated names to the species. Click on a name to view its details.

Total: 8 names and synonyms.

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