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Marsupials of North America — marsupial mammals of North America, within the Didelphimorphia order that is endemic to the Americas. Pages in category "Marsupials of North America" The following 9 pages are in this category, out of 9 total.
Edward A. Goldman reported hearing the name from "several native hunters" in Panama in 1920. It is also reported as a native name for the howler monkey in Nicaragua. [188] Opossum (Didelphimorphia) marsupial: Powhatan: From aposoum ("white animal"), from Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-aʔθemwa ("white dog"), originally referring to the Virginia ...
The first American marsupial (and marsupial in general) that a European encountered was the common opossum. Vicente Yáñez Pinzón , commander of the Niña on Christopher Columbus ' first voyage in the late fifteenth century, collected a female opossum with young in her pouch off the South American coast.
The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America in the late Cenozoic. The Virginia opossum is the only species found in the United States and Canada.
The Virginia opossum's ancestors evolved in South America, but spread into North America as part of the Great American Interchange, which occurred mainly after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama about 3 million years ago. Didelphis was apparently one of the later migrants, entering North America about 0.8 million years ago. [10]
This is a list of North American mammals. It includes all mammals currently found in the United States, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Canada, Greenland, Bermuda, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean region, whether resident or as migrants. This article does not include species found only in captivity.
Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas Common opossum, native to Central and South America; Virginia opossum, native to North America; White-eared opossum, native to South America; Phalangeriformes, also called (o)possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and ...
Didelphis is a genus of New World marsupials. The six species in the genus Didelphis, commonly known as Large American opossums, are members of the opossum order, Didelphimorphia. The genus Didelphis is composed of cat-sized omnivorous species, which can be recognized by their prehensile tails and their tendency to feign death when cornered.