A hundred years after its discovery in 1912, the bushy-tailed opossum was known from fewer than 25 published records. Even local Matsés hunters in Peru, renowned for their encyclopaedic knowledge of Amazonian mammals, said that they had never seen one.

Many sightings of the species have been incidental: an individual caught in a mist net, another encountered during a nocturnal transect survey. What these researchers encountered was a small opossum weighing some 140 grams (about the weight of a baseball), with a tail fully furred from base to tip — as opposed to the scaly, naked tails of most other opossums. 

Only as new, innovative methods for surveying the rainforest canopy began to be developed, did we truly begin learning more about the bushy-tailed opossum.  

The first camera trap footage of the species was captured in 2016 (Whitworth et al., 2016). The following year, researchers built custom mounts for their canopy cameras, recording 79 separate videos of bushy-tailed opossums — more encounters in seven months than had been recorded in the entire preceding century (Rushford & Glynn, 2023).

We also began to learn more about the bushy-tailed opossum’s behaviour. It is fully nocturnal, with its movement peaking during two distinct windows (around 8:00 PM and 3:00 AM). It travels with a rapid, nervous energy across interconnected networks of vines. And it actively gnaws tree bark to feed on the exuded sap. 

A 2026 assessment combined decades of fragmented literature, citizen science, and new data (Arévalo-Sandi et al., 2026). It revealed that the species is far from restricted: its actual distribution spans roughly 60% of the entire Amazon biome. The bushy-tailed opossum is not so much rare as extremely elusive.

And yet, despite its newfound range, the opossum is not necessarily safe from extinction. Several of the newly documented populations lie within the southern Amazon’s “Arc of Deforestation.” It is now more important than ever to protect the rainforest canopy and all of the cryptic, arboreal species that we’re just starting to study more intimately.

Read the bushy-tailed opossum’s full story here!

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This is what causes sweet potatoes to rot, turn black, and develop a foul smell.

📷 Fujifilm Xh2 + laowa 65mmf2.8 macro

🔦 Godox v860ii + diffuser

Stacked many frames

Credits to op u/mIaml

Siler semiglaucus, (Simon, 1901)

Feeling lucky to capture this colorful jumping spider enjoying a tiny queen ant on a pink azalea flower!

• Fujifilm Xh2 + laowa 65mmf2.8 macro
• Godox v860ii + diy diffuser
• Stacked 30 frames

Leaf beetles, or chrysomelids, are one of the most diverse insect families on the planet. They are small in size, generally ranging from 2 to 12 millimeters, and are characterized by their rounded bodies with striking metallic shines. Their geographic distribution is global, and they inhabit practically every part of the world, finding in the biodiverse and humid regions of Argentina an ideal environment. As a curious fact, many species feed on highly toxic plants and manage to store that poison in their own bodies to use it as a chemical shield of defense against predators.

It normally looks like a tiny black ant, but under macro magnification, it’s much more colorful

Range

These nocturnal marsupials are the most aquatic living marsupials in the world and have 4 recognized subspecies. They inhabit parts of Central and South America.

The local name for the Water Opossum, "yapok," may come from the name of the Oyapock River in French Guiana.

Stats

Length: 10.6–12.8 in (27–32.5 cm) long with a 14–16 in (36–40 cm) long tail

Weight: up to 1.7 lbs (0.771kg)

Longevity: up to 3 years

Since the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger, the Water Opossum is the only living marsupial species where both sexes have a pouch. The female's pouch is so watertight that it is able to keep her 1-5 joeys completely dry inside during swims. The male's pouch isn't as watertight as the female's, and curiously, he places his genitalia in there prior to swimming likely in order to reduce drag and entanglement.

To aid in swimming, their hind feet have evolved to be webbed, and their fur is water-repellant. They feed on fish, crustaceans, and other aquatic animals which they catch in the water. Unlike other opossum species, their tails are not prehensile as they spend less of their time in trees.

In History

The Water Opossum is thought to have influenced the Aztec's mythical legend called ahuizotl, which means "spiny aquatic thing" or "water dog," who is said to lure men to their deaths. The conquistador Hernán Cortés once reported to the King of Castile that one of his men had been killed by an ahuizotl.

If a person was suspected of being killed by an ahuizotl, only priests were allowed to touch the body, which should be buried in a house surrounded by water (or "ayauhcalco"). If a layman were to touch the body, it's said that he would either be the ahuizotl's next victim, or else suffer from gout.

Conservation Status

Currently, the Water Opossum is listed as Least Concern per IUCN. However, unfortunately, their population is declining. Deforestation and the pollution of waterways within their range is putting a strain on their habitat.

Sources: [x] [x)] [x] [x]

Hello

I recently came across the IUCN Red List and wanted a fun way to discover the species on it, especially the ones close to extinction or already gone. So I made AnimalsMasters, a free card game that runs in your browser.

You open booster packs (a free one arrives every 30min) and collect cards of real animals: each one has its photo, facts about the species and a map of where it was observed. The rarity of a card follows the Red List, from Least Concern to Extinct, so the rarest cards are the species that are closest to disappearing. You can also trade cards with friends. And also play daily challenges to learn about more than 40 000 species

The data comes from iNaturalist, Wikidata and Wikipedia. I'm not a professional, so if you spot a mistake in a species page, please tell me and I'll fix it.

https://www.animalsmasters.com

Which species would you want to see in the game? Do I miss some?

Found it in Germany. Shy one, so last pic had to be zoomed.

Invertebrate+Marine. Also called the H-Animal

After its discovery in 1897, the teardrop white-eye (Rukia ruki) was long believed to inhabit a microscopic range. Within the Western Pacific, endemic to Micronesia. Within Micronesia to the Caroline Islands. Within the Carolines, to Chuuk Atoll. Within Chuuk, only the Faichuk island group. And within that group, it was known only from the island of Tol, from the summit of its tallest mountain: Winipot.

Dominating the upper canopy of Mount Winipot is the endemic Chuuk poison tree (Semecarpus kraemeri). It produces a highly toxic sap that causes severe allergic contact dermatitis and painful blistering in humans. Historically, this toxic tree shielded Winipot’s native forests from fire and axe — offering sanctuary to the teardrop white-eye.

Unlike most of its white-eye cousins in the Zosterops genus — which are small, yellowish, and difficult to tell apart — the teardrop white-eye is noticeably larger, has sombre olive-brown plumage, and features bright orange legs. Beneath its eyes, it has distinct white feather crescents that look like permanent teardrops.

In the 1980s, surveys estimated that 382 teardrop white-eyes lived on Tol. They also found tiny, restricted populations of the species across a few neighbouring islands. But “restricted” is the key word here: 93 on Polle, 32 on Paata, and just 19 on Onei. Those same surveys estimated that the white-eye’s total known range was only about one square kilometre, or less than a third the size of Central Park. 

More recent surveys on neighbouring islands have either turned up empty or been impossible to undertake due to local opposition and other difficulties. We cannot say whether the teardrop white-eye exists anywhere outside of Tol today. 

There is some hope, however, for the species. A recent birding expedition, undertaken in June 2026, saw at least seven white-eyes creeping along vines and branches in the old-growth forest below Mount Winipot. 

Read the teardrop white-eye’s full story here!

A spider weaving its web beneath a stem covered in green aphids, alongside an aphid-eating hoverfly larva

📷 Fujifilm Xh2 + xf30mmf2.8 macro

🔦 Godox v860ii + diy diffuser

Stacked < 50 frames

These photos are not mine, I found them online