Fun Four-eyed Opossum Facts For Kids

The four-eyed opossum or the rat-tailed opossum, also commonly known as Philander opossum, family Didelphidae subfamily Didelphinae, is a gray or brown-furred animal with white spots above both their eyes, giving them the illusion of having two eyes. Four-eyed opossums are slender mammals found in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, and southwestern Brazil.

They build their own nests using dry leaves in hollow trees, tree forks, and ground burrows. They are also known for their nocturnal behavior.

Four-eyed opossums, the common name of the species, have seven species of South American marsupials (family Didelphidae, subfamily Didelphinae), most of which are named after their founders, like Anderson’s four-eyed opossum (Philander andersoni) found in the northwestern Amazon basin from Venezuela to northern Peru and adjacent Brazil; Mondolfi’s four-eyed opossum (Philander mondolfii) found in Venezuela and eastern Columbia; McIlhenny’s four-eyed opossum (Philander mcilhennyi) found in western Amazon basin of Peru and Brazil; Olrog’s four-eyed opossum (Philander olrogi) found in Peru and Bolivia.

The Orinoco four-eyed opossum (Philander delate) is found in the delta of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, and the southeastern four-eyed opossum (Philander frenatus) is found in southeastern Brazil south to Paraguay and Argentina.

The last species of this four-eyed opossum is the gray four-eyed opossum (Philander opossum).

There are also five arboreal New World marsupial species of the same family most commonly found in South America.

The information available on the species philander opossum is possible because of the research and studies conducted and information provided by Gardner Alfred L.

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Four-Eyed Opossum Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a four-eyed opossum?

A gray four-eyed opossum is a type of opossum belonging to the Animalia kingdom, phylum Chordata and Philander genus.

What class of animal does a four-eyed opossum belong to?

The gray four-eyed opossum belongs to the class of mammal, Didelphimorphia order, family Didelphidae, and genus Philander.

How many four-eyed opossums are there in the world?

The gray and black four-eyed opossum species are widespread and very easily found in the South American continent. There are also five species of arboreal New World marsupial of the same family, widespread in the South American region. However, the IUCN and other similar sources have not provided the exact population size for this animal.

Where does a four-eyed opossum live?

The gray four-eyed opossum can be easily found in Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Paraguay, Panama, Suriname, and Venezuela.                              

What is a four-eyed opossum's habitat?

The gray four-eyed opossum prefers natural habitats with moist tropical forests that receive at least 39.4 in (1,000 mm) rain per year.

Who do four-eyed opossums live with?

Gray four-eyed opossums are considered solitary and nocturnal animals, which means that they prefer to live alone and not with other animals of their species in their natural habitat.

However, even though they are solitary animals, four-eyed grey opossum are not territorial and have overlapping home ranges with up to 150 individuals living in a 100 hectare (1 sq km) range.

How long does a four-eyed opossum live?

The life span of a gray four-eyed opossum varies from 2.5-3.5 years.

How do they reproduce?

The female gray four-eyed opossum reaches their age for reproduction at around six to seven months of age, whereas the gray male four-eyed opossum reaches their sexual maturity at the age of seven months. The gray four-eyed opossum is a polygynous animal, which means that reproduction can occur between one male and multiple females.

The male gray four-eyed opossum competes for the female gray four-eyed opossum by communicating through a series of clicking noises.

Young gray four-eyed opossums are usually born in the wet season as they cannot survive in the dry seasons. The litter size for the species Philander opossum is four to five litters per year.

What is their conservation status?

The gray four-eyed opossum species are classified as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Four-Eyed Opossum Fun Facts

What do four-eyed opossums look like?

Gray four-eyed opossums (family Didelphidae, subfamily Didelphinae) have a gray fur coat on their body with white spots above their eyes which gives them the look of having four eyes.

Besides this, coming from the genus Philander, their prehensile tail is bicolored with a pale distal and longer proximal darker gray part.

Their naked tail is 7.7-13.9 in ( 19.5-35.5 cm) long, out of which 2-2.4 in (5-6 cm) is covered in gray fur, and the tip is mostly naked, and it gets narrow as it reaches the end.

Besides having gray fur, their throat and cheeks are cream-colored.

However, the color of their body fur varies from place to place; for example, Philander opossum from Mexico has a pale gray body fur; in Colombia, they have a dark brown (dark brown four-eyed opossum) or blackish fur, and in Central America, they would have a very dark gray body fur.

Adult Philander opossums have black ears along the edges, and the female gray four-eyed opossum Philander is slightly smaller than the gray four-eyed male opossum.

How cute are they?

The gray four-eyed opossum Philander is very cute to look at. Their gray coat and four-eyed look give them a wonderful and cute look.

How do they communicate?

The gray four-eyed opossum Philander are animals not known to be vocal, so they communicate through a series of signals like clicks, chirps, and hisses. When under threat by other animals, they would fight back by threatening back through visual displays like opening their mouth and hissing very loudly.

The male four-eyed opossum would also communicate with breeding females using sternal and abdominal scent glands.

How big is a four-eyed opossum?

The gray four-eyed philander opossum, on average, can grow easily to a total length of 8.7-13 in (22-33 cm) long, which is almost half the length of the Virginia opossum.

How fast can a four-eyed opossum run?

The gray four-eyed opossum is described as an aware and agile creature and can run really fast. However, the brown four-eyed philander opossum is considered more cautious and anxious than the gray four-eyed opossums. Therefore, the brown four-eyed opossum moves more quickly and silently and is less likely to be trapped than other opossums of the same family.

How much does a four-eyed opossum weigh?

The gray four-eyed opossum weight range between 0.4-1.5 lb (200-674 g), which is almost half the weight of the ringtail possum. The average body weight of brown four-eyed opossum is 1.01 lb (460 g), whereas for males and females, the weight range around 1.2 lb (490 g) and 0.8 lb (350 g), respectively.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Male four-eyed opossums are called jack, whereas females are called jill.

What would you call a baby four-eyed opossum?

The young four-eyed opossum juveniles are called joey. The litter size for the Philander opossum is four to five litters per year.

What do they eat?

The four-eyed species Philander opossum is an omnivore. For the four-eyed opossum diet, the plant-based diet includes leaves, seeds, fruit, roots and tubers, grains, nuts, and nectar. At the same time, their animal-based diet includes birds, small mammals (such as mice), amphibians, reptiles, eggs, insects, mollusks, and terrestrial worms.

Are they dangerous?

The gray four-eyed opossum won't necessarily be dangerous in the sense that they might be fatal for human beings.

Still, they can be dangerous in the sense that they might create nuisance on your private property and may attack and injure the wildlife present around them.

The Philander opossum is known for creating a mess in gardens and near homes by feeding on berries and nuts and might as well defecate on garden paths and patios. Besides that, they can also injure dogs and cats using their sharp pointed teeth and can also act as hosts for cats and dogs fleas, ticks, and mites.

The gray four-eyed opossum can also carry diseases like leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease.

Would they make a good pet?

The grey four-eyed opossum would make a good pet because of its solitary and sedentary behavior. However, it might not be legal to keep this animal as a pet in a few states, and you might need to check it with your local Fish and Wildlife first regarding the permit.

When kept as pets, the grey four-eyed opossum can live for up to four years and weigh up to 3.3 lb (1.5 kg).

Besides that, the gray four-eyed opossum can also help control insects and small vertebrate animals in your backyard. The gray four-eyed opossum for sale falls under exotic pets and needs to be provided proper gray four-eyed opossum pet care.

Did you know...

The gray four-eyed opossum is a terrestrial animal, but they are also very good at climbing and swimming as well.

The gray four-eyed opossum is also known for not 'playing possum' or 'playing dead' like other opossums when facing predators.

They are also important dispersers of cecropia seeds since they help disperse the seeds in high-quality locations.

Why is it called a four-eyed opossum?

The gray four-eyed opossum gets their name from the white spots present just above their eyes. These white spots on their gray fur look like two more eyes just above their actual eyes.

This illusion gives them the name of being a four-eyed Philander opossum. Even while sleeping with their eyes closed, the white spots above their eyes make them look like they are awake.

What's the difference between a possum and an opossum?

Both possums and opossums belong to the same animal kingdom but come from different families. In fact, possums are more related to kangaroos than they are to opossums.

While possums are native to New Zealand, Australia and China, opossums are mostly found in America and Southern Canada. Possums are also smaller than opossums and have furrier tails as compared to opossums' bare tails.

While the colloquial phrase of playing dead is based on possums, that is 'playing possum,' opossums show this behavior more often than the possums. A possum, therefore, would react more aggressively than opossums towards its predators.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these coatimundi interesting facts and stoat fun facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable four eyed opossum coloring pages.