A rainforest night-walker with a built-in illusion: two pale spots above its eyes that make it look like it has an extra pair of “eyes” in the dark. That trick is the reason four-eyed opossums get their name, and it’s easy to imagine how it helps—at a quick glance, a predator might hesitate or misread which way the animal is facing. Anderson’s four-eyed opossum is small-to-medium and lightly built, with a pointed snout, alert ears, and a long, flexible tail that helps it balance as it climbs.

While some relatives are more plainly gray or darker charcoal, Anderson’s is often described as having richer, warmer fur—more tawny, golden, or brownish in tone—so it can look like a little animal made of dried leaves and late-afternoon light. That coloring, paired with the pale eye spots, gives it a very distinctive face when you catch it in a flashlight beam. It also tends to look a bit more “polished” and less starkly contrasted than some other four-eyed opossums, with a softer blend between back, sides, and belly.

Anderson’s four-eyed opossum is a classic nocturnal omnivore—meaning it keeps a flexible menu and takes what the night offers. Fruit can be a big part of the diet when trees are producing, but it may also hunt insects and other small prey, and it won’t ignore an easy opportunity. This “never too picky” approach is one reason opossums do so well in environments where food changes from season to season. It spends time in both trees and lower vegetation, using grasping feet and nimble hands to climb, and it often sticks close to cover where it can vanish fast.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Bolivia

2016

Brazil

2016

Colombia

2016

Ecuador

2016

Peru

2016

Venezuela

2016