Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cladus: Metatheria
Cladus: Marsupialiformes
Cohors: Marsupialia
Ordo: Didelphimorphia
Familia: Didelphidae
Subfamilia: Didelphinae
Tribus: Thylamyini
Genus: Gracilinanus
Species (6): G. aceramarcae – G. agilis – G. dryas – G. emiliae – G. marica – G. microtarsus – G. peruanus
Name
Graciliananus Gardner & Creighton, 1989: 4
Type species: Didelphys microtarsus Wagner, 1842, by original designation
Synonymy
Didelphys Wagner, 1842: 359; not Didelphis Linnaeus, 1758
Grymaeomys Burmeister, 1854 [part]
References
Primary references
Gardner, A.L. & Creighton, G.K. 1989. A new generic name for Tate's (1933) Microtarsus group of South American mouse opossums (Marsupialia: Didelphidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 102(1): 3–7. BHL Reference page.
Additional references
Voss, R.S. & Jansa, S.A. 2009. Phylogenetic relationships and classification of didelphid marsupials, an extant radiation of New World metatherian mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 322: 1–177. hdl: 2246/5975 Open access Reference page.
Semedo, T.B.F., Brandão, M.V., Carmignotto, A.P., Nunes, M.S., Farias, I.P., Silva, M.N.F. & Rossi, R.V. 2015. Taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships of Marmosa agilis peruana Tate, 1931 (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae), with comments on the morphological variation of Gracilinanus from central-western Brazil. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173(1): 190–216. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12203 Open access Reference page.
Vernacular names
English: Gracile Opossums
Gracilinanus is a genus of opossum in the family Didelphidae. It was separated from the genus Marmosa in 1989, and has since had the genera Cryptonanus, Chacodelphys, and Hyladelphys removed from it.
Physical description
Gracile mouse opossums, excluding the fat-tailed mouse opossum, in general, have a prehensile tail that is thin and very long. The tails of mouse opossums are naked.[2] Mouse opossums have ears that are, both, large and naked.[2] General opossums, including Gracilinanus species, have noses that are pointed.[citation needed] Another general characteristic that mouse opossum have are mammary glands.[2] Each member of the Gracilinanus species has a dark ring that is found around each eye.[2][3] The species G. microtarsus has red-brown fur on the top of the body and gray fur on the underside.[4] In comparison with G. microtarsus, G. agilis has paler fur color.[4] Over the years, a new species, G. ignitus, has been added to the genus. G. ignitus has a white patch on its chest. It, as well, has a light, two-tone colored tail that has only a few hairs. The fur color can be used to determine if a member of the genus is part of the G. ignitus species. G. microtarsus, G. emiliae, and G. dryas can be distinguished from G. ignitus by their tails that are only one color. One difference between G. agilis and G. ignitus is that G. agilis has a hairier tail. G. aceramarcae has naked skin compared to G. ignitus. G. emiliae is smaller than G. ignitus.[5] G. emiliae, in general, has a very long tail. A difference between G. emiliae and the rest of the species in the genus is that it has white fur on the underside of the body and the rest of the species have a gray or brown color.[6]
Taxonomy
It contains the following species:[1]
Aceramarca gracile opossum (Gracilinanus aceramarcae)
Agile gracile opossum (Gracilinanus agilis)
Wood sprite gracile opossum (Gracilinanus dryas)
Emilia's gracile opossum (Gracilinanus emilae)
Northern gracile opossum (Gracilinanus marica)
Brazilian gracile opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus)
Peruvian opossum (Gracilinanus peruanus)
Cladogram of living Gracilinanus species:[7][8]
|
Habitat
Gracilinanus species can be found in a number of different places. The different regions that Gracilinanus species can be found are Peru,[9][10] Bolivia,[9][10][11] Brazil,[10][12][13][14] Paraguay,[10] and Venezuela.[12][11][13] Some species are found in forests,[9][10][11][12][13][14] trees,[9][10][12][13][14] fallen trunks, tree holes,[10] humid environments,[13] and coffee plantations.[13] G. emiliae is distributed along the Amazonia and the coast of Venezuelan rainforests.[6] G. emiliae is one of the two species in the genus that is found in lowland Amazonian rainforests.[6] G. agilis and G. microtarsus are the only two species that have been found in the central, south, and southeastern parts of Brazil.[15] The other species have been found in the Amazon and not in Brazil.[15] The production of sugar cane and fruits, along with deforestation, is thought to be a reason why the newer species, G. ignitus, has been harder to find.[5]
Endangerment
Out of the species that currently exist, only two are on the endangered list. Gracilinanus agilis is not considered to be threatened, in general, but in the specific area of Paraguay, the species is close to being threatened.[10] The only other species that is near threatened is G. dryas.[12] A major threat to these species is that their main habitat is being destroyed by deforestation.[10][11][12][14] However, it has also been reported that these species are on the critically endangered list because they are only known in two general areas where their habitat has been found to be taking a decline. The species of the genus Gracilinanus once occupied other regions in South America but are now extinct there.[3]
Diet
The species G. microtarsus has a diet that includes insects, spiders, fruits, termites, beetles and ants.[16] As well, this species has been known to live off of wasps[17] and small invertebrates.[15] However, the main component of G. microtarsus' diet is ants. It is reported that males eat more food than females.[16]
Reproduction
Like most marsupials, the female has two vaginas and the males have a two-pronged penis.[18] Some females can have a litter size of up to 15, but usually have a litter of about 7.[2] Females of the species do not have a pouch that the young are able to stay in.[3][10][15] For those that do not have a pouch, the young are only attached to the nipples for a short time period and are left in their nests early on in their life.[15]
Interesting facts
Some species are nocturnal.[15][17] A few Gracilinanus species know how to play dead.[citation needed] The newest species that was found, G. ignitus, is reported to be one of the largest of all the species.[5] G. emiliae is one of the species that has only a dozen specimens found.[6] The species in this genus are known to climb a lot and dig holes in trees or the ground.[2]
References
Gardner, A.L. (2005). "Order Didelphimorphia". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
"Mouse opossum". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web 3 November 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395096/mouse-opossum>
"Mammals." EDGE of Existence. Web. 28 November 2012. <http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=35 Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine>.
Pires, Mathias M.; Martins, Eduardo G.; Silva, Maria Nazareth F.; dos Reis, Sérgio F. (25 January 2010). "Gracilinanus microtarsus (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)". Mammalian Species. 42: 33–40. doi:10.1644/851.1. S2CID 51743498.
Díaz, M. Mónica; Flores, David A.; Barquez, Rubén M. (2002). "A New Species of Gracile Mouse Opossum, Genus Gracilinanus (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae), from Argentina". Journal of Mammalogy. 83 (3): 824–833. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083<0824:ANSOGM>2.0.CO;2.
Voss, Robert S.; Fleck, David W.; Jansa, Sharon A. (December 2009). "On the diagnostic characters, ecogeographic distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of Gracilinanus emiliae (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae: Thylamyini)". Mastozoología neotropical. 16 (2): 433–443.
Upham, Nathan S.; Esselstyn, Jacob A.; Jetz, Walter (2019). "Inferring the mammal tree: Species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution and conservation". PLOS Biol. 17 (12): e3000494. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000494. PMC 6892540. PMID 31800571.
Amador, Lucila I.; Giannini, Norberto P. (2016). "Phylogeny and evolution of body mass in didelphid marsupials (Marsupialia: Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 16 (3): 641–657. doi:10.1007/s13127-015-0259-x. S2CID 17393886.
Solari, S.; Tarifa, T. (2016). "Gracilinanus aceramarcae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T9416A22169509. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T9416A22169509.en.
Carmignotto, A.P.; Solari, S.; de la Sancha, N.; Costa, L. (2015). "Gracilinanus agilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T9417A22169828. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T9417A22169828.en.
Pérez-Hernandez, R.; Brito, D.; Astúa, D.; Carmignotto, A.P. (2021). "Gracilinanus emiliae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T9419A197307208. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T9419A197307208.en.
Pérez-Hernandez, R.; Ventura, J.; López Fuster, M. (2016). "Gracilinanus dryas". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T9418A22169714. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T9418A22169714.en.
Pérez-Hernandez, R.; Ventura, J.; López Fuster, M. (2016). "Gracilinanus marica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T9420A22169944. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T9420A22169944.en.
Brito, D.; Astúa, D.; Lew, D.; Soriano, P. (2021). "Gracilinanus microtarsus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T9421A197306376. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T9421A197306376.en.
Geise, Lena; Astúa, Diego (December 2009). "Distribution extension and sympatric occurrence of Gracilinanus agilis and G. microtarsus (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), with cytogenetic notes". Biota Neotropica. 9 (4): 269–276. doi:10.1590/S1676-06032009000400030.
Martins, E. G.; Bonato, V.; Pinheiro, H. P.; dos Reis, S. F. (May 2006). "Diet of the gracile mouse opossum (Gracilinanus microtarsus) (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in a Brazilian cerrado: patterns of food consumption and intrapopulation variation". Journal of Zoology. 269 (1): 21–28. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00052.x.
Martins, E. G.; Bonato, V. (1 January 2004). "On the diet of Gracilinanus microtarsus (Marsupialia, Didelphidae) in an Atlantic Rainforest fragment in southeastern Brazil". Mammalian Biology. 69 (1): 58–60. doi:10.1078/1616-5047-116.
Lima, Jussara Marcolino do Nascimento; Santos, Amilton Cesar; Viana, Diego Carvalho; Bertassoli, Bruno Machado; Lobo, Luis Miguel; Oliveira, Vanessa Cristina; Briani, Denis Cristiano; Costa, Gerlane Medeiros; Assis-Neto, Antônio Chaves; Ambrósio, Carlos Eduardo; Carvalho, Ana Flávia; Mançanares, Celina Almeida Furlanetto (9 December 2013). "Morphological study of the male genital organs of Gracilinanus microtarsus". Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Research and Animal Science. 50 (6): 447–456. doi:10.11606/issn.1678-4456.v50i6p447-456.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
