WATER-OPOSSUM, or Yapok (Chironectes minimus), the single representative of the genus. This animal is distinguished from other opossums by its webbed hind-feet, non-tuberculated soles, and peculiar coloration. Its ground colour is bright grey with four or five sharply contrasted brown bands passing across Its head and back, giving it a very peculiar mottled appearance; the head and body together are about 14 in. long, and the tail measures a little more. It is almost wholly aquatic in its habits living on small fish crustaceans and other water animals; its range extends from Guatemala to southern Brazil.