Didelphis aurita

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	DIDELPHIMORPHIA	DIDELPHIDAE

Scientific Name:

Didelphis aurita

Species Authority:

(Wied-Neuwied, 1826)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Big-eared Opossum, Brazilian Common Opossum
French	–	Sarigue D´azara
Spanish	–	Comadreja Orejas Negras

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s

Brito, D., Astua de Moraes, D., Lew, D., Soriano, P. & Emmons, L.

Evaluator/s:

Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
This species is listed as Least Concern in because of its wide distribution, presumed large population, tolerance to habitat modification, occurrence in a number of protected areas and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category. Although hunted or trapped locally for food, sport and as predators of poultry, the species does not appear to have been adversely affected by human settlement (Novak 1999). Commercial hunting for the fur trade does not appear to have much impact.]]

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species occurs in coastal Brazil from Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul, west of the lower Rio Paraguay, to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina (Gardner 2007).
Countries:	Native: Argentina; Brazil; Paraguay
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	The species can be very abundant. D. aurita often move long distances (Gentile and Cerqueira 1995) and are habitat generalists (Emmons and Feer 1997).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	D. aurita is found in the Atlantic and Aracaria forests, living in primary and secondary forests, also found in forests that have been fragmented by urban development and deforestation (Grelle 2003). The diet of D. aurita is omnivore (Carvalho et al. 2005). D. aurita is scansorial, nocturnal and solitary. It is mainly terrestrial, but its forelimbs and claws allow it to climb trees (Grelle 2003).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

D. aurita is found in the Atlantic and Aracaria forests, living in primary and secondary forests, also found in forests that have been fragmented by urban development and deforestation (Grelle 2003). The diet of D. aurita is omnivore (Carvalho et al. 2005). D. aurita is scansorial, nocturnal and solitary. It is mainly terrestrial, but its forelimbs and claws allow it to climb trees (Grelle 2003).

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats known although deforestation effects some populations.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats known although deforestation effects some populations.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Occurs in a number of protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

Occurs in a number of protected areas.

Citation:	Brito, D., Astua de Moraes, D., Lew, D., Soriano, P. & Emmons, L. 2008. Didelphis aurita. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 December 2008.
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