📸 PhotoPhoto: Enrique González · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Water Opossum
Chironectes minimus (Water Opossum · ミズオポッサム)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 790 g is lighter than a 1 L carton of milk (around 1 kg), and its maximum body length of 40 cm is about 1.3 times the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (Comparison).
- 💡 It is hunted for its water-repellent fur, and demand has been rising in parts of Peru.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Water Opossum is a semiaquatic opossum living along streams and lakeshores in Central and South America, skilled at swimming and diving.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has short grayish-white and brown fur with distinct white stripes above and below the eyes. Its long, slender tail acts as a rudder when swimming and, unlike in other opossums, is not used for climbing trees.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Along the water's edge, it mainly preys on crustaceans, aquatic insects, and frogs, and also eats fruit and aquatic plants when prey is scarce. It consumes oily foods that help maintain the waterproofing of its fur. Although mainly nocturnal, it is also frequently seen during the day.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2016) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4671/22173467
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000017
- • iucnredlist.org — 22173467
- • wikidata.org — Q660423
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Yapok (Chironectes minimus), Uruguay, 1998.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Chironectes minimus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — C. Camilo Julián-Caballero · CC BY 3.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.