New possum species named after UW-Oshkosh professor

OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — Mammal experts have named a new species of possum after the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor who discovered it.

UW-Oshkosh biology professor Greg Adler was working on research near the Panama Canal in 2001 when he found a mouse possum with a longer tail than usual and a brownish rather than the common salmon-colored belly, Oshkosh Northwestern Media reported Thursday.

He sent the animal to the American Museum of Natural History and forgot about it until this year, when he received an email from museum curator Robert Voss. He said the possum was a new species and it had been named Marmosa adleri, Latin for “Adler’s mouse opossum.” The museum published the discovery on Dec. 8.

Adler, who has worked at UW-Oshkosh since 1994, said he’s honored.