Caluromys lanatus: Western Woolly Opossum

Western Woolly Opossum - Caluromys lanatus
( Olfers, 1818 )

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Subspecies:	Unknown
Est. World Population:

CITES Status:	NOT LISTED
IUCN Status:	Least Concern
U.S. ESA Status:	NOT LISTED

Body Length:
Tail Length:
Shoulder Height:
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Top Speed:
Jumping Ability:	(Horizontal)

Life Span:	in the Wild
Life Span:	in Captivity

Sexual Maturity:	(Females)
Sexual Maturity:	(Males)
Litter Size:
Gestation Period:

Habitat:

This species inhabits a variety of lowland humid forests that include primary, secondary, disturbed and gallery forests, and plantations, usually at elevations below 500 m asl (Gardner 2008), although the species can be found up to an altitude of 2,600 m asl (Bangs 1898, Soriano et al. 1999, Alberico et al. 2000). A specimen from Paraguay was obtained on a branch 10 m above the ground, and all indications are that this species is highly arboreal (Eisenberg 1989, Emmons and Feer 1997, Handley 1976), nocturnal and solitary. It eats primarily fruits, invertebrates and a few small vertebrates; it also feeds on nectar and may consume other flower parts, including pollen (see Gardner 2008 and Cáceres and Carmignotto 2006). Remains of C. lanatus occur in Pleistocene– Holocene cave deposits of Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil (Cartelle 1999, Winge 1893).

Range:

This species is found east of the Andes from western and southern Venezuela, central Colombia, eastern Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia to western, central and southern Brazil, eastern and southern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina (Missiones; Cáceres and Carmignotto 2006). This species is replaced by Caluromys derbianus west of the Andes (Eisenberg 1989) and by C. philander in eastern Brazil. Sympatry with C. philander occurs in northern and central Brazil (Mato Grosso, Goiás and Minas Gerais states), Guyana and eastern Bolivia (Patton et al. 2000, Patton and Costa 2003, Carmignotto 2004, Eisenberg 1989, Malcolm 1991). Different authors (Cabrera 1958, Pérez-Hernández 1989, Cáceres and Carmignotto 2006) have recognized four subspecies. Gardner (2008) calls attention to the fact that the species needs to be revised, and recognizes six subspecies. Although mentioned to occur in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil (Ruschi 1965 in Gardner 2008), more recent and local lists (e.g. Moreira et al. 2008) do not recognize the occurrence of the species in the southeastern coastal Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Conservation:

This species occurs in many protected areas.