ADW: Gracilinanus agilis: Information

Head-body length averages 110 mm while tail length averages 137 mm. Males and females are similar in size. Their tails are naked and prehensile. Mouse opossums have an opposable big toe on their hind feet, which allows them to rapidly climb thin vines. Their opposable toes lack claws. They have very mobile, membraneous ears.

Some key physical features:
endothermic ; bilateral symmetry .

Reproduction

Females produce two litters annually. A female's first estrus occurs at 265-75 days. Gestation lasts about 20 days. A female has 13 teats, but not all teats are functional. The maximum litter size is 11; average 7-9. The weight of each newbornis less than 250 mg, and the young are extremely altricial at birth. This species lacks a pouch. After the young are born, they crawl up the mother's belly and attach themselves to a nipple. Weaning occurs at 60-70 days. The young leave the mother a few days after they have been weaned.

Key reproductive features:
gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual .

Behavior

These opossums are solitary animals. They hunt and nest alone. They live in dens or in nests that they have taken over from other species.

Key behaviors:
motile .

Food Habits

These opossums are omnivores, feeding mainly on insects and soft fruits. They are nocturnal.

Other Comments

When threatened, this opossum feigns death. Because they are nocturnal, hearing is an important sense.

This particular species is occasionally found as stowaways in banana shipments. When bananas are shipped, they are kept at a relatively cool temperature. Mouse opossums fall into a hibernation-like state at low temperatures. Their respiration rate, metabolism, and need for food are decreased, allowing them to survive the cool temperature of the banana shipments.

For More Information

Find Gracilinanus agilis information at

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Allison Rogers (author), University of Michigan.

References

Grizmek's Encyclopedia of Mammals. 1990. V.1. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York.

Lee, A. L. & Cockburn, A. 1985. Evolutionary Ecology of Marsupials. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 1992. V.12.

The New Encyclopedia Brittania. 1994. V.8.

Nowak, R. M. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World. V.1. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Stonehouse, B. & Gilmore, D. 1977. The Biology of Marsupials. University Park Press, Baltimore.

Tyndale-Biscoe, H. 1973. Life of Marsupials. American Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc., New York.

2009/11/22 02:57:18.078 US/Eastern

To cite this page: Rogers, A. 1999. "Gracilinanus agilis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 24, 2009 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Gracilinanus_agilis.html.

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Gracilinanus agilisagile gracile mouse opossum

Geographic Range

Habitat

Physical Description