Didelphis virginiana

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

The only marsupial (pouched mammal) in North America, the opossum eats almost anything. Females usually have two litters per year.

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,458 meters (0 to 8,064 feet).[1]

Ecology: Found in a variety of habitats , ranging from relatively arid to mesic environments. They prefer wet areas, however, especially woodlands and thickets near streams and swamps .[2]

Biology

Diet

The Opossum is generally nocturnal , actively foraging for food at night. The species is omnivorous , eating both plants and animals. Its diet includes, fruits, berries , insects, crayfish, small rodents, carrion (dead animal flesh), and even human garbage. The prehensile tail and opposable thumb on the hind feet help the Opossum climb trees in search of bird eggs and young.

Reproduction

The Opossum is related to kangaroos because it rears its young in a pouch, a fact which makes it unique among North American mammals. The Opossum breeds from January to mid-summer, generally producing 2 litters a year. From 3 to 25 naked, embryo-like young are born about 2 weeks after mating. At birth the young crawl to the pouch where they attach to one of 12 to 13 nipples . Only those that attach to a nipple will live, and generally only 6 or 7 young survive to leave the pouch. At 2 months, the young detach from the nipple but remain in the pouch. They leave the pouch when 70 - 80 days old. The young will then hang onto the mother's back as she forages and will begin to eat solid foods. At 100 days, the young become independent and leave the mother.

Behavior

This adaptable animal is quite successful at surviving in residential and suburban areas, but is no match for vehicular traffic. It is one of the most frequently observed dead animals on roadways in both rural and urban habitats . If attacked or tormented by a potential predator , an opossum will feign death by going limp and appear quite dead, the behavior commonly referred to as "playing possum." Once the attack or torment has ended, if still alive, the Opossum will quickly "regain consciousness" and escape .

Predators:

Preyed upon by hawks, owls, foxes, the Bobcat, the Coyote, and humans.

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 28-Nov-2006

Similar Species

No other mammal in North America looks similar to the Opossum.

Members of the genus Didelphis

There are approximately 47 species in this genus:

D. agilis · D. albiventris (White-Eared Opossum) · D. albiventris albiventris (White-Eared Opossum) · D. albiventris azarae · D. albiventris pernigra · D. aurita (Big-Eared Opossum) · D. azarae · D. brevicaudata · D. brunii · D. canescens · D. crassicaudata · D. cynocephala · D. elegans · D. imperfecta (Guianan White-Eared Opossum) · D. incana · D. marsupialis (Southern Opossum) · D. marsupialis aurita · D. marsupialis cancrivora · D. marsupialis caucae · D. marsupialis etensis · D. marsupialis insularis · D. marsupialis marsupialis (Southern Opossum) · D. marsupialis paraguayensis · D. marsupialis tabascensis · D. marsupialis virginiana · D. murina · D. myosurus · D. nudicaudata · D. obesula · D. opossum · D. orientalis · D. peregrinus · D. pernigra (Andean White-Eared Opossum) · D. philander · D. pusilla · D. pygmaea · D. reigi · D. tridactyla · D. ursina · D. virginiana (Virginian Opossum) · D. virginiana californica · D. virginiana pigra · D. virginiana virginiana · D. virginiana yucatanensis · D. virginianus · D. volans · D. vulpecula

More Info

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Further Reading

• A catalogue of the collection of mammals in the Field Columbian Museum. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1907. ENG url p. 8.
• A check list of mammals of the North American continent, the West Indies and the neighboring seas. Chicago, 1905. ENG url p. 585, p. 7, p. 7.
• A manual of land and fresh water vertebrate animals of the United States (exclusive of birds) by Henry Sherring Pratt Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's Son and Co., inc.[c1935] ENG url p. 246, p. 407, p. 413.
• A monographic study of the American marsupial, Caenolestes, by Wilfred H. Osgood, with a description of the brain of Caenolestes, by C. Judson Herrick. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1921. ENG url p. 100, p. 86.
• A popular zoology / by J. Dorman Steele and J.W.P. Jenks. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, c 1887. ENG url p. 312.
• American animals: a popular guide to the mammals of North America north of Mexico, with intimate biographies of the more familiar species / by Witmer Stone and William Everett Cram. New York: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1904. ENG url p. 4.
• American animals; a popular guide to the mammals of North America north of Mexico, with intimate biographies of the more familiar species, by Witmer Stone and William Everett Cram. New York, Doubleday, Page and Company, 1902. ENG url p. 4, p. 8, p. 9.
• Animal Ecology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1961. ENG url p. 460.
• Animal biology / by Robert H. Wolcott. New York; McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1940. ENG url p. 431.
• Annales des sciences naturelles: comprenant La physiologie animale et végétale, l'anatomie comparée des deux règnes, la zoologie, la botanique, la minéralogie et la géologie Paris: Crochard FRE url p. 210.
• Annals and magazine of natural history: including zoology, botany and geology London. url p. 321, p. 343.
• Annals of natural history. London, R. and J.E. Taylor, ENG url p. 343.
• Annual report / Florida State Geological Survey. Tallahassee, Fla.: Capital Pub. Co., state printer, ENG url p. 139, p. 148, p. 158.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 110, p. 135, p. 61, p. 89, p. 90, p. 95, p. 95.
• Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Nicolai, 1835- GER url p. 232, p. 95.
• Atlas of New World marsupials / Barbara E. Brown. Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, 2004. ENG url p. 1, p. 40, p. 92, p. iii.
• Audubon and his journals, by Maria R. Audubon. With zoical and other notes by Elliott Coues. New York, Scribner's Sons, 1897. ENG url p. 535.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
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• Composition of the family Didelphidae Gray, 1821 (Didelphoidea:Marsupialia), with a review of the morphology and behavior of the included four-eyed pouched opossums of the genus Philander Tiedemann, 1 Philip Hershkovitz. Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, c1997. ENG url p. 102, p. 17, p. 6, p. 7, p. 79, p. 96.
• Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences. Paris: Gauthier-Villars. FRE url p. 186.
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• Fauna americana: being a description of the mammiferous animals inhabitating North America. By Richard Harlan. Philadelphia, A. Finley, 1825. ENG url p. 118.
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• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 98, p. 99.
• Naturalist (Morris) London. url p. 139.
• Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1926. ENG url p. 333, p. 356, p. 381, p. 466, p. 470, p. 494, p. 521.
• New World Marsupial Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website
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• Oeuvres complètes de Buffon, augmentées par M.F. Cuvier de deux volumes supplémentaires, offrant la description des mammifères et des oiseaux les plus remarquables découverts jusqu'à ce jour Paris, F.D. Pillot, 1830-32 [v. 1, 1831] FRE url p. 289.
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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 09, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 26 providers.
• New World Marsupial Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 20, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 09, 2007:

• Berkeley Natural History Museums, University of California Museum of Paleontology DiGIR provider
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics, Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Colección de Mamíferos de Nuevo León, México
• Field Museum, Mammal specimens
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Vertebrate specimens
• Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science, Mammal specimens
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• Museum of Texas Tech University
• , Mammal specimens
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum, Mammal specimens
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Mammal Collection
• The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx River Bioblitz
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNMA/Coleccion Nacional de Mamiferos
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of Alaska Museum Mammal Collection
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of New Mexico Museum of Southwestern Biology Mammal Collection
• University of Minnesota Bell Museum of Natural History, Mammal specimens
• University of Washington Burke Museum, Mammal Specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2479969
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-179921
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13300277
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 179921
• IUCN ID: 40502
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: AMAAA01010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1266

Footnotes

1. Mean = 322.540 meters (1,058.202 feet), Standard Deviation = 533.170 based on 956 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
2. New World Marsupial Specialist Group 1996. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 20, 2008. [back]

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