Glironia venusta Thomas (1912a)

The bushy-tailed opossum

Glironia venusta Thomas (1912a) View in CoL

is the only member of the subfamily Glironiinae ( Voss and Jansa 2009) . This South American marsupial occurs in the Amazon and its transitional areas with the Cerrado, with records in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru ( Brandão et al. 2015; Arguero et al. 2017; Sant and Catzeflis 2018). Despite its wide distribution, the species is still poorly known mostly due to its nocturnal and arboreal habits, being a resident of the understory and canopy of forests ( Astúa 2015).

Although records of the species in Brazil have grown in recent decades, most records refer to sightings ( Bernarde and Machado 2008; Rossi et al. 2010; Silveira et al. 2014; Alexandre and Thoisy 2023; Mercês et al. 2023; Rushford and Glynn 2023). There are only a few captures using traps, with specimens subsequently deposited in scientific collections ( Ardente et al. 2013). Occasional captures were also reported, such as individuals recorded during vegetation suppression activities ( Rossi et al. 2010; Silveira et al. 2014) and on a house ’ s roof near a secondary forest ( Silva and Langguth 1989). Yet, one was collected using a firearm ( Nogueira et al. 1999).

Herein we provide new data on G. venusta , reporting new records in Brazil of this rare marsupial obtained through occasional records. The specimens were identified based on the dorsal surface of the tail covered with long, soft, brown fur throughout its length, except for the white tip; dark blackish facial-mask and whitish rostral-stripe that extends to the nape ( Figure 1A,C and D View Figure 1 ); and presence of a postorbital process formed by the frontal and parietal bones ( Figure 1B View Figure 1 ), all in accordance to diagnostic characters of the species ( Voss and Jansa 2009; Brandão et al. 2015). The specimen collected was deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP), Brazil.

During a study in Floresta Nacional de Carajás (FLONA-Carajás), two individuals of G. venusta ( Figure 1 View Figure 1 ) were recorded during the rainy season (on March 22, 2018, and March 29, 2019) as roadkills (Table 1). FLONA-Carajás is located in southeastern Pará ( Figure 2 View Figure 2 ), covering an area of 411,948.87 ha, and predominantly characterized by Ombrophilous Forest and Deciduous Seasonal Forest ( Martins et al. 2012). The roadkills were recorded at Raymundo Mascarenhas roadway, which connects the city of Parauapebas to the Carajás Iron Mining Complex and cuts well preserved and continous forested areas.

According to literature data, there are captures of G. venusta at ground level for one individual captured by pitfall traps in Brazil ( Bernarde and Rocha 2003) and Ecuador ( Arguero et al. 2017) and by Tomawank in Peru ( DÍaz and Willig 2004), while the remaining records were in the canopy and forest understory (Table 1). The new records reported here provide additional data on ground-level movements of G. venusta , as evidenced by the two individuals roadkilled in Pará, which has never been reported before for this species.

The record of the female captured in Rondônia is noteworthy as it occurred through a method used to capture bats. A male individual was captured using the same method in Loreto, Peru ( Barkley 2008). We add cranial morphometrical data to this species, so far know only by five adults and one subadult ( Ardente et al. 2013; Arguero et al. 2017; Voss et al. 2019).

A significant part of the known records for this species has been obtained through visual observations in the wild, and some individuals captured were photographed and subsequently released. Consequently, scientific collections are still poor in G. venusta specimens for taxonomic studies. Thus, the additional specimen (MZUSP35146) reported here is important for future investigations. Finally, this study contributes to the general ecological knowledge about the species by documenting its ground-level movements, as well as its well-known arboreal behavior.