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We studied phenotypic variation in water opossum  Chironectes minimus  through morphological variation in size and shape of 16 cranial characters among six groups of populations of  Chironectes  defined by a transect analysis named according their main distributions: Central America, Venezuela/Colombia, Guianas, Belem, Bolivia/Peru, and Atlantic Forest. We also studied environmental variation among the groups and the influence of temperature seasonality and minimum temperature of coldest month on the body size of  C. minimus . Morphometric differences in both size and shape were sharp between two major groups: Atlantic Forest and Central America+Venezuela/Colombia+Belem. The same pattern of differentiation was also observed in the environmental variables each group experiences. We also found a negative relationship between body size and temperature seasonality which showed that  C. minimus  follows a converse Bergmann’s rule cline. Our results on morphometric and environmental space suggest that specimens from the Atlantic Forest are different from specimens from Central America+Venezuela/Colombia+Belem both in size and shape and environmentally. We suggest that these major groups may comprehend different clades but a proper taxonomic assessment is needed to confirm our hypothesis.

Geographic morphometric and environmental differentiation of the water opossum, genus Chironectes Illiger, 1811 (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae)