Brazilian Slender Opossum

Open encyclopedia reference

The Brazilian slender opossum (Marmosops paulensis) is an opossum species from South America. It is found in moist montane forest in the Atlantic Forest region of southeastern Brazil, including the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná. Its breeding may be fully semelparous, which is unusual for a mammal.

It is considered monotypic and analysis of mtDNA sequences has distinguished this species from other Marmosops. Similar to the gray slender opossum (M. Incanus), adults of this species have short fur while young have long, soft fur. Early research identified M. paulensis as a subspecies of M. incana. The name M paulensis came from a mistaken attribution of the species origin as São Paulo. Subsequent research has, however, distinguished M. paulensis based on various features like smaller upper canines, absence of palatine fenestrae and longer incisive foramina.

Wikipedia contributors, Brazilian slender opossum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:01:38.685774+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Marmosops (Marmosops) paulensis (Tate, 1931)

Name authority

(Tate, 1931)

Common name

Brazilian Slender Opossum

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Didelphimorphia

Family

Didelphidae

Genus

Marmosops

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
11. orderDidelphimorphia Gill, 1872
12. familyDidelphidae Gray, 1821
13. subfamilyDidelphinae Gray, 1821
14. tribeThylamyini Hershkovitz, 1992
15. genusMarmosops Matschie, 1916
16. subgenusMarmosops Matschie, 1916
17. speciesMarmosops (Marmosops) paulensis (Tate, 1931)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Marmosops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 84 records assigned to Didelphidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=709369 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3Y842. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.