📸 PhotoPhoto: The original uploader was Dawson at English Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Gray Short-tailed Opossum
Monodelphis domestica (Gray Short-tailed Opossum · Gray Short-tailed Opossum)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A male's maximum weight of 155 g is similar to a baseball (about 145 g), and its maximum body length of 15 cm is similar to the length of a smartphone (Comparison).
- 💡 It is popular as an exotic pet. Because it is one of the few animals that develops skin cancer like humans, it is used in research, and it is also welcomed in homes for eating pests such as insects and scorpions.
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 Gray Short-tailed Opossum is a small opossum living in South American forests, scrublands, and grasslands that sometimes enters human homes. Among short-tailed opossums, it is the most widely used in research.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its fur is mostly pale gray, with reddish or whitish tones depending on the region. Its hairless, rat-like tail is about half its body length and is semi-prehensile.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
An omnivore that eats insects, fruits, and small animals such as rodents. It is solitary and mutually aggressive, and one partner is often injured even during mating.
🇰🇷 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/40514/197307682
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000067
- • iucnredlist.org — 197307682
- • wikidata.org — Q194472
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Monodelphis domestica.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Monodelphis domestica
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Daniel Stadtmauer · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.