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The Virginia opossum is the original animal named "opossum", a word which comes from Algonquian wapathemwa, meaning "white animal". Colloquially, the Virginia opossum is frequently just called a "possum". [8] The term is applied more generally to any of the other marsupials of the families Didelphidae and Caenolestidae.
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 largest species, the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), is the only marsupial to be found in North America, north of Mexico. The Virginia opossum has opposable toes on their two back feet. One of the synapomorphies of this genus is the hypertrophied spinous processes of the cervical vertebrae, which also interlock. As a result, this ...
Opossums are an ancient species, and eat all manner of bugs, vermin and rotting vegetables. Meet the opossum, nature's friendly sanitation worker Skip to main content
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. They have a variety of sizes, shapes, and fur patterns, and range in size from the 6 cm (2 in) (plus 9 cm (4 in) tail) Kalinowski's mouse opossum to the 55 cm (22 in) (plus 54 cm ...
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NEW BEDFORD — Odin the one-eyed Virginia opossum has the gift of changing the minds of visitors to Buttonwood Park Zoo about what to expect of an opossum when they meet him.. Animals like Odin ...
Some sources call this subfamily the "American opossums", [2] [6] while others use that term for the whole family of opossums, Didelphidae. [1] The term may be redundant, though, since all opossums are native to the Americas, while their distant Australian taxonomic relatives, in the suborder Phalangeriformes are referred to as possums in ...