116 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NO. 322 seems probable that at least some <strong>of</strong> the many putative synonyms <strong>of</strong> Chironectes minimus will be found to represent valid taxa in future analyses <strong>of</strong> morphological <strong>and</strong>/or molecular data. Didelphis Linnaeus, 1758 Figure 46 CONTENTS: albiventris Lund, 1840 (including bonariensis Marelli, 1930; dennleri Marelli, 1930; lechei Ihering, 1892; leucotis Wagner, 1847; paraguayensis J.A. Allen, 1902; poecilotis Wagner, 1842; <strong>and</strong> poecilonota Schinz, 1844); aurita Wied-Neuweid, 1826 (including koseritzi Ihering, 1892; longipilis Mir<strong>and</strong>a-Ribeiro, 1935; <strong>and</strong> melanoidis Mir<strong>and</strong>a-Ribeiro, 1935); imperfecta Mondolfi <strong>and</strong> Pérez-Hernández, 1984; marsupialis Linnaeus, 1758 (including battyi Thomas, 1902; cancrivora Gmelin, 1788; caucae J.A. Allen, 1900; colombica J.A. Allen, 1900; etensis J.A. Allen, 1902; insularis J.A. Allen, 1902; karkinophaga Zimmermann, 1780; particeps Goldman, 1917; richmondi J.A. Allen, 1901; <strong>and</strong> tabascensis J.A. Allen, 1901); pernigra J.A. Allen, 1900 (including <strong>and</strong>ina J.A. Allen, 1902; <strong>and</strong> meridensis J.A. Allen, 1902); <strong>and</strong> virginiana Kerr, 1792 (including boreoamericana J.A. Allen, 1902; breviceps Bennett, 1833; californica Bennett, 1833; cozumelae Merriam, 1901; illinensium Link, 1795; pigra Bangs, 1898; pilosissima Link, 1795; pruinosa Wagner, 1843; texensis J.A. Allen, 1901; woapink Barton, 1806; <strong>and</strong> yucatanensis J.A. Allen, 1901). MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION: Combined length <strong>of</strong> adult head <strong>and</strong> body 310–495 mm; adult weight 600–5100 g. Rhinarium with one ventrolateral groove on each side <strong>of</strong> median sulcus; dark circumocular mask indistinct in some species (D. aurita, D. marsupialis, D. virginiana) but distinct in others (D. albiventris, D. imperfecta, D. pernigra); pale supraocular spot absent; dark midrostral stripe absent; throat gl<strong>and</strong> absent. Dorsal pelage unpatterned; dorsal underfur white; dorsal guard hairs long, coarse <strong>and</strong> conspicuous, giving the pelage a distinctively shaggy appearance; ventral fur pale (usually whitish) tipped with black. Manus mesaxonic (dIII . dIV); manual claws usually longer than fleshy apical pads <strong>of</strong> digits; dermato- glyph-bearing manual plantar pads present; central palmar epithelium smooth or sparsely tuberculate; carpal tubercles absent. Pedal digits unwebbed; dIV slightly longer than other pedal digits in some species (e.g., D. marsupialis) or dII, dIII, <strong>and</strong> dIV subequal (e.g., in D. albiventris <strong>and</strong> D. virginiana); plantar surface <strong>of</strong> heel naked. Pouch well developed, opening anteriorly; mammae normally 3–1–3 5 7 to 6–1–6 5 13 or more 29 ; cloaca present. Tail slightly longer than combined length <strong>of</strong> head <strong>and</strong> body, slender <strong>and</strong> muscular (not incrassate); basal 1/6 to 1/4 densely furred (covered with body pelage); naked caudal integument blackish proximally <strong>and</strong> abruptly whitish distally; caudal scales in spiral series, each scale usually with three subequal bristlelike hairs emerging from distal margin; ventral caudal surface variably modified for prehension distally (prehensile modifications are more strongly developed in D. auritus <strong>and</strong> D. marsupialis than in the other species), but dermatoglyph-bearing apical pad consistently present. Premaxillary rostral process absent. Nasals short, not produced anteriorly above I1 (exposing nasal orifice in dorsal view), <strong>and</strong> conspicuously widened posteriorly near maxillary-frontal suture. Maxillary turbinals elaborately branched. Lacrimal foramina one or two on each side, exposed laterally on orbital margin or on face just anterior to orbit. Postorbital processes bluntly pyramidal, maximally developed in old adults. Left <strong>and</strong> right frontals co-ossified (midfrontal suture incomplete or absent), but left <strong>and</strong> right parietals separated by persistent midparietal suture. Parietal <strong>and</strong> alisphenoid in contact on lateral braincase (no frontalsquamosal contact). Sagittal crest large, well developed, <strong>and</strong> extending onto frontals. Petrosal not exposed laterally through fenestra in squamosal-parietal suture (fenestra absent). Parietal-mastoid contact absent (interparietal narrowly contacts squamosal). Maxillopalatine <strong>and</strong> palatine fenestrae present; maxillary fenestrae absent; posterolateral palatal foramina not extending anteriorly lingual to M4 protocones; posterior 29 Occasional records <strong>of</strong> Didelphis virginiana with up to 17 pouch young (cited by Hamilton, 1958) suggest that teat counts in this species may sometimes exceed 6–1–6 5 13.
2009 VOSS AND JANSA: DIDELPHID MARSUPIALS 117 Fig. 46. Didelphis marsupialis (based on AMNH 266459, an adult male from Paracou, French Guiana). palate with prominent lateral corners, the choanae abruptly constricted behind. Maxillary <strong>and</strong> alisphenoid not in contact (separated by palatine) on floor <strong>of</strong> orbit. Transverse canal foramen present. Alisphenoid tympanic process small <strong>and</strong> uninflated, usually with posteromedial lamina enclosing extracranial course <strong>of</strong> m<strong>and</strong>ibular nerve (secondary fora-
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