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The common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), also called the southern or black-eared opossum [2] or gambá, and sometimes called a possum, is a marsupial species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia (reaching the coast of the South Pacific Ocean to the central coast of Peru), including Trinidad and Tobago and the Windwards in the Caribbean, [2] where it is called manicou. [3]
Opossums are found in North, Central, and South America. The Virginia opossum lives in regions as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America, while other types of opossums only inhabit countries south of the United States. [50] The Virginia opossum can often be found in wooded areas, though its habitat may vary widely. [51]
The black-shouldered opossum is characterized by a gray coat, gray underbelly, and broad black stripes that extend from the forefeet, meet on the shoulders, run along the midline of the back and then split into parallel stripes that run down the hind feet. Little is known of the behavior of the black-shouldered opossum. It is nocturnal and ...
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). Didelphimorphia is an order of marsupial mammals.Members of this order are called didelphimorphs, or opossums.They are primarily found in South America, though some are found in Central America and Mexico and one, the Virginia opossum, ranges into the United States and Canada.
Opossums are the only marsupial in the United States and they have many unique traits.
The American zoologist Alfred Gardner and later the American mammalogist Philip Hershkovitz would synonymize this species with Anderson's four-eyed opossum. [1] It was recognized as a distinct species in 2020 following a study of the analysis of the cytochrome b of the holotype and other specimens.
The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., recently welcomed a one-eyed opossum named Basil, who was rescued after being attacked and is now an ambassador for his species at the zoo.
Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American marsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail. Family: Didelphidae (American opossums) Subfamily: Didelphinae. Virginia opossum, D. virginiana [n 1] [n 2] LC