Phylogenetic Relationships of Mouse Opossums (Didelphidae, Marmosa) with a Revised Subgeneric Classification and Notes on Sympatric Diversity
Author
Voss, Robert S.
Author
Gutiérrez, Eliécer E.
Author
Solari, Sergio
Author
Rossi, Rogério V.
Author
Jansa, Sharon A.
text
American Museum Novitates
2014
2014-11-06
2014
3817
1
1
http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1206/3817.1
journal article
7859
10.1206/3817.1
25fe81fd-bc8b-4e73-b39a-4befc4589d89
0003-0082
4566020
Eomarmosa
,
new subgenus
TYPE
SPECIES:
Marmosa rubra
Tate, 1931
.
CONTENTS:
rubra
Tate, 1931
.
DIAGNOSIS: Gular gland absent; manual claws small (not extending beyond fleshy apical pads of fingers); medial and lateral carpal tubercles present in large adult males (e.g., AMNH 71950); dorsal tail scales rhomboidal and arranged in predominantly spiral series; ventral prehensile surface of tail not densely fringed by long hairs. Postorbital processes absent, indistinct, or very small; palatine fenestrae absent; fenestra cochleae concealed; M2 preparacrista attaches to stylar cusp A.
COMPARISONS:
Eomarmosa
differs from other subgenera of
Marmosa
in petrosal and dental characters. Specifically, the fenestra cochleae of
Eomarmosa
is concealed within a sinus formed by the caudal and rostral tympanic processes of the petrosal, whereas the fenestra cochleae in other subgenera is normally exposed because the rostral and caudal tympanic processes of the petrosal are widely separated. Additionally, the preparacrista on M2 of
Eomarmosa
attaches to stylar cusp A (or to the corresponding anterolabial corner of the stylar shelf when a discrete cusp is missing), whereas the M2 preparacrista of other subgenera usually passes straight labially to terminate at or near stylar cusp B.
Other characters distinguish
Eomarmosa
from some, but not all, other congeners. For example,
Eomarmosa
differs from
Exulomarmosa
by its lack of a gular gland—consistently present as a hairless patch of (often greasy) skin in adult male specimens of the latter subge-nus—and by the spiral arrangement of its caudal scales (the arrangement of tail scales of
Exulomarmosa
usually includes at least some in annular series).
Eomarmosa
differs from members of the subgenus
Marmosa
by the presence of well-developed medial and lateral carpal tubercles in large adult males (sexually dimorphic carpal tubercles are consistently absent in
Marmosa
).
Eomarmosa
has small manual claws, the tips of which do not extend distally beyond the fleshy apical pads of the fingers, whereas the manual claws of
Micoureus
are larger, stronger, and (unless blunted) usually extend slightly beyond the fleshy apical pads of the fingers. Lastly,
Eomarmosa
lacks the dense fringes of long silvery hairs that border the caudal prehensile surface in both species of
Stegomarmosa
.
ETYMOLOGY: From the ancient Greek ἕως (“dawn”), by metonymy, for the reddish fur of the single included species.
REMARKS: A detailed description of
Marmosa
(
Eomarmosa
)
rubra
was provided by
Rossi et al. (2010)
, who also mapped the collection localities of all known specimens. Based on those data, the geographic range of
M. rubra
appears to be restricted to western Amazonia, where it is known to occur from southeastern
Colombia
to southeastern
Peru
(
Rossi et al., 2010
: fig. 30). This taxon occurs sympatrically—but perhaps not syntopically—with members of the subgenera
Marmosa
and
Micoureus
, (e.g., at Boca Río Curaray, Departamento
Loreto
,
Peru
; Tate,