Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Español; Esperanto; Euskara; ... It is often simply referred to as an opossum, and in North America it is commonly referred to as a possum [3] (/ ...
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]
Around the turn of the 20th century, the opossum was the subject of numerous songs, including "Carve dat Possum", a minstrel song written in 1875 by Sam Lucas. [ 67 ] Although it is widely distributed in the United States, the Virginia opossum's appearance in folklore and popularity as a food item has tied it closely to the American Southeast .
العربية; Asturianu; Azərbaycanca; Беларуская; Български; Català; Cebuano; Čeština; Deutsch; Ελληνικά; Español; Esperanto; Euskara
In mammals, the Virginia opossum (commonly known simply as possums) is perhaps the best known example of defensive thanatosis. "Playing possum" is an idiomatic phrase which means "pretending to be dead". [13] It comes from a characteristic of the Virginia opossum, which is famous for reacting with a death-like posture when threatened.
The grayish mouse opossum is an unusually small opossum, measuring 20 to 35 cm (7.9 to 13.8 in) in total length, including an 11- to 16-cm (4.3- to 6.3-in) tail.
Possum Bourne (1956–2003), New Zealand rally car driver; George Jones (1931–2013), known as "The Possum", American country music singer; Possum Jones (1934–1997), American NASCAR driver; Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri (1932–2002), Indigenous Australian painter; Possum Whitted (1890–1962), American baseball player
Like all marsupials, gestation is probably short, with females' giving birth to poorly developed young and most of the development taking place during lactation. [5] It is likely that reproduction is similar to that of Marmosa robinsoni, which gives birth to 6–14 young after a gestation period of just 14 days.