NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Karimi's Fat-tailed Mouse Opossum
Thylamys karimii (Petter, 1968)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Karimi's fat-tailed mouse opossum (Thylamys karimii) is a species of opossum in the family Didelphidae. It is endemic to central and northeast Brazil, where it is found in the cerrado and caatinga at elevations from 300 to 1100 m. This opossum is crepuscular and mostly terrestrial; its omnivorous diet includes leaves, insects and small vertebrates. Its head-and-body length is about 95 millimeters, and its tail length is about 72 millimeters. It is very similar to T. pallidor. Its tail may be nonprehensile. The species is named after Iranian epidemiologist Y. Karimi. It is threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation due to agriculture and ranching.
Wikipedia contributors, Karimi's fat-tailed mouse opossum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:08:54.736083+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Thylamys karimii (Petter, 1968)
- Name authority
- (Petter, 1968)
- Common name
- Karimi's Fat-tailed Mouse Opossum
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Didelphimorphia
- Family
- Didelphidae
- Genus
- Thylamys
- 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
- tribeThylamyini Hershkovitz, 1992
- genusThylamys Gray, 1843
- speciesThylamys karimii (Petter, 1968)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Thylamys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Dwarf Fat-tailed Mouse OpossumThylamys velutinus (Wagner, 1842) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buff-bellied Fat-tailed Mouse OpossumThylamys venustus (Thomas, 1902) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mesopotamian Fat-tailed OpossumThylamys citellus (Thomas, 1912) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Elegant Fat-tailed Mouse OpossumThylamys elegans (Waterhouse, 1839) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pallid Fat-tailed OpossumThylamys pallidior (Thomas, 1902) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Argentine Fat-tailed Mouse OpossumThylamys sponsorius (Thomas, 1921) | DidelphidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tate's Fat-tailed Mouse OpossumThylamys tatei (Handley, 1957) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Marmosa karimii Petter, 1968 Petter, 1968 | 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=709379 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:56Q69. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.