A soft-furred, nocturnal marsupial that lives high in the forest canopies of Central America, from southern Mexico through Panama and into parts of northern South America. With its woolly coat, large dark eyes, and prehensile tail, Derby’s woolly opossum is perfectly adapted to a quiet life among the trees.
Its tail is prehensile (able to grasp), mostly furred at the base but bare and scaly near the tip, acting like an extra limb to help it climb and balance in the treetops. The fur is dense and soft, ranging from reddish-brown to grayish on the back, with a paler or yellowish belly. Its face often features a dark stripe running from the nose to the forehead, giving it a slightly masked appearance.
Derby’s woolly opossum is strictly nocturnal and solitary, spending the daytime hidden in tree hollows or dense vegetation, emerging at night to forage. It is omnivorous, feeding on fruits, nectar, insects, and sometimes small vertebrates or eggs. It has a particular liking for nectar-producing flowers and is thought to play an important role as a pollinator, especially for night-blooming tropical plants. While feeding, it often sticks its long snout deep into flowers, collecting pollen on its face and fur, which it then transfers from plant to plant as it moves.
Like all marsupials, females have a pouch, where the tiny, underdeveloped young finish developing after birth. Once large enough, the young may cling to the mother’s fur as she moves through the trees, learning how to navigate their arboreal world.
One of the most remarkable features of Derby’s woolly opossum is how quiet and secretive it is. It moves slowly and carefully, rarely making noise except for soft rustling or the occasional hiss or growl when threatened. Its nocturnal habits and excellent camouflage make it one of the hardest opossums to spot in the wild, even though it’s not especially rare.
Distribution
Belize
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
PanamaAnything we've missed?
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Terrestrial / Aquatic
Altricial / Precocial
Polygamous / Monogamous
Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic
Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal
Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Herd
Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore
Migratory: Yes / No
Domesticated: Yes / No
Dangerous: Yes / No
