NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Anderson's Four-eyed Opossum
Philander andersoni (Osgood, 1913)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Anderson's Four-eyed Opossum (Philander andersoni)
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Open encyclopedia reference
Anderson's four-eyed opossum (Philander andersoni) is an opossum species from South America. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Its dorsal fur is dark, with a black stripe, about 3–4 cm wide, going vertically down the midline of its back. Its dorsal fur is short, about 10 mm long. Its ventral fur is dark gray, but still distinctly lighter than the sides and dorsum. Its tail is furred for the first (approximately) 18% of its length, going from the base to the tip.
Its species name "andersoni" was chosen to honor American scientific collector Malcolm Playfair Anderson.
Wikipedia contributors, Anderson's four-eyed opossum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:01:01.628079+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Philander andersoni (Osgood, 1913)
- Name authority
- (Osgood, 1913)
- Common name
- Anderson's Four-eyed Opossum
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Didelphimorphia
- Family
- Didelphidae
- Genus
- Philander
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDidelphimorphia Gill, 1872
- familyDidelphidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyDidelphinae Gray, 1821
- tribeDidelphini Gray, 1821
- genusPhilander Brisson, 1762
- speciesPhilander andersoni (Osgood, 1913)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Philander. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| McIlhenny's Four-eyed OpossumPhilander mcilhennyi Gardner & Patton, 1972 | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gray Four-eyed OpossumPhilander opossum (Linnaeus, 1758) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Common Four-eyed OpossumPhilander canus (Osgood, 1913) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dark Four-eyed OpossumPhilander melanurus (Thomas, 1899) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Delta OpossumPhilander deltae Lew, Pérez-Hernández & Ventura, 2006 | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Olrog's Four-eyed OpossumPhilander olrogi Flores, Barquez & Díaz, 2008 | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pebas Four-eyed OpossumPhilander pebas Voss, Diaz-Nieto & Jansa, 2018 | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Metachirus andersoni Osgood, 1913 Osgood, 1913 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552583 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:4G4WF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.