📸 PhotoPhoto: Thomaz de Carvalho Callado · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Linnaeus's Mouse Opossum
Marmosa murina (Linnaeus's Mouse Opossum · Linnaeus's Mouse Opossum)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its average weight of 38 g is about 2/3 of an egg (about 60 g), and its average length of 29 cm is almost the same as the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (29.7 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it is very commonly found in French Guiana, wild-caught individuals were used in field studies measuring bite force.
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
Linnaeus's Mouse Opossum is a small nocturnal opossum living on low branches in Central and South American forests. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It weighs an average of 38 g and measures about 290 mm in total length, with a prehensile tail averaging 170 mm.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Known as an insect-heavy omnivore, it has been relatively little studied because its small size makes tracking difficult, though it is very common in French Guiana. In 2025, an anatomical study on its jaw muscles and bite force was published.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/40505/197308868
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000047
- • iucnredlist.org — 197308868
- • wikidata.org — Q194675
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Marmosa murina 345099180 (cropped).jpg
- • ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — PMC12588181
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Milena Cavalcanti, Patricia Pilatti & Diego Astúa · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Marmosa)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.