Marmosa tyleriana is currently known from just four localities in the highlands of southern Venezuela.

• Biogeographic Regions
• neotropical neotropical
  • native native

Habitat

Based largely on the elevation at which specimens have been collected, this species probably occurs in premontane and montane rainforest.

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• rainforest rainforest
• mountains mountains

Physical Description

Like other species of mouse opossums , Marmosa tyleriana is a small, pouchless marsupial with large, membranous ears; prominent eyes; a mask of dark fur surrounding the eyes, and a long, slender, prehensile tail. The dorsal fur is dark brown and the ventral fur is gray-based buffy. Among other diagnostic traits, this species differs from other species of Marmosa by lacking postorbital processes and by having narrow zygomatic arches. Marmosa tyleriana is known from just a few specimens, so the maxima and minima provided are unlikely to represent the full range of morphometric variation in this species. It is not known if M. tyleriana is sexually dimorphic or not, but males are larger than females in many other closely related species.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

Reproduction

Nothing is known about the mating system of this species.

Almost nothing has been published about reproduction in Marmosa tyleriana , but other species of Marmosa are spontaneous ovulators that give birth to highly altricial young after a short gestation.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual

Females presumably nurse neonatal young, groom them, and protect them from predators, but other forms of parental investment are unknown.

• Parental Investment
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

Nothing is known about the lifespan of this species in the wild or in captivity.

Behavior

Nothing has been recorded about the behavior of Marmosa tyleriana , but other species of Marmosa are known to be nocturnal and arboreal/scansorial.

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal arboreal
• scansorial
• nocturnal nocturnal
• motile motile

Home Range

Nothing is known about the home range of this species.

Communication and Perception

The eyes, ears, nasal turbinates (thin bones that support olfactory epithelium), and tactile hairs are well developed in this species (as in other opossums ), so vision, hearing, and touch are probably important senses.

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

No definite information is currently available about the food habits of this species, but its dentition is similar to that of other species of Marmosa which are known to be insectivorous and to eat fruit occasionally.

• Primary Diet
• carnivore carnivore
  • insectivore insectivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• fruit

Predation

Nothing seems to be known about the natural predators of this species, but they probably include snakes , owls , and wild felids .

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

Marmosa tyleriana is probably a primary consumer (of fruit) and a secondary consumer (of insects ). It is probably eaten by snakes , owls , and carnivorans ; and it is certainly host to many species of invertebrate ecto- and endo-parasites. Probable ectoparasites include species of Arachnida ( Acari : mites) and Insecta ( Siphonaptera : fleas). Probable endoparasites include species of Acanthocephala (spiny-headed worms), Cestoda (tapeworms), Digenea (flukes), and Nematoda (roundworms).

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

It is unlikely that this species is of any positive economic importance.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

There are no known adverse effects of Marmosa tyleriana on humans.

Conservation Status

Marmosa tyleriana occurs in one of the most remote and inaccessible regions of the planet, so it is unlikely to be in any immediate danger of extinction.

IUCN Red List

Data Deficient

US Federal List

No special status

CITES

No special status

Other Comments

Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequence data indicate that Marmosa tyleriana is closely related to M. murina , M. waterhousei , and M. macrotarsus .

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Robert Voss (author), American Museum of Natural History, Sharon Jansa (editor), American Museum of Natural History, Alexa Unruh (editor), Animal Diversity Web Staff.

References

Creighton, G., A. Gardner. 2007. Genus Marmosa Gray, 1821. Pp. 51-61 in Mammals of South America, Vol. 1 (Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats) . Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Gutierrez, E., S. Jansa, R. Voss. 2010. Molecular systematics of mouse opossums (Didelphidae: Marmosa ): assessing species limits using mitochondrial DNA sequences, with comments on phylogenetic relationships and biogeography. American Museum Novitates , 3692: 1-22.

Ochoa, J. 1985. Nueva localidad para Marmosa tyleriana (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) en Venezuela. Donana, Acta Vertebrata , 12: 183-185.

Rossi, R., R. Voss, D. Lunde. 2010. A revision of the didelphid marsupial genus Marmosa . Part 1. The species in Tate's 'mexicana' and 'mitis' sections and other closely related forms. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History , 334: 1-81.

Tate, G. 1933. A systematic revision of the marsupial genus Marmosa . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History , 66: 1-250.