The Opossum
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Didelphimmorpha
Family: Didelphidae
Genus: Didelphis
The opossum is North America's only marsupial. A marsupial is an animal with a pouch, like a kangaroo or koala. The opossum has been around for at least 70 million years, and is one of the earth's oldest surviving mammals.
The opossum is about the size of a large house cat. It has a triangular head and a long pointed nose. It has grayish fur everywhere but on it's ears, feet and tail. It's tail is prehensile. A prehensile tail is adapted for grasping and wrapping around things like tree limbs. The opossum can hang from it's tail for a short time. Some people think opossums hang from their tails in their sleep, they don't. Their tails aren't strong enough to hold them for that long.
The opossum has opposable hallux. A hallux is like a thumb. The opossum's "thumbs" are on it's rear feet. The hallux helps it grab branches when it climbs. The opossum doesn't hibernate in the winter. It will often hole up however during cold seasons because coming up to the surface it runs the risk of getting frostbite on it's hairless ears, tail, and toes.
The opossum is found in most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and on the West Coast. It is also found in Mexico, Central America, and in British Columbia.
The opossum lives in a wide variety of habitats including deciduous forests, open woods, and farmland. It tends to prefer wet areas like marshes, swamp, and streams. The opossum is nocturnal and uses it's keen sense of smell to locate food. It is omnivorous and eats just about anything, including lots of plants and animals like fruits, insects, and other garbage and carrion.. Carrion is dead animals. because so much carrion is road kill, opossums are often killed by cars while looking for food on the roadways.
An opossum mother may have as many as 25 babies, but usually she will have between 7 and 8. The reason opossums have so many babies is to insure that some of them survive. Like most marsupials, opossums are very small when they are born, about the size of a navy bean. They climb up their mother's fur and into her pouch where they find a teat. Some babies will not find their way to the pouch and will die. If they make it to the pouch, only one of the babies who find one of the thirteen teats will survive. They will stay in the pouch and suckle for 55-60 days. Then they will move out of the ouch and spend another four to six weeks on their mother's back. In some parts of their range, females will have three litters a year.
The opossum has many behavioral adaptations it uses to survive. When it is threatened, opossums will exhibit behaviors like running, growling, belching, urinating, and even defecating. Sometimes they will play "possum" and roll over, become stiff, drool, and their breathing will become slow and shallow. This coma-like state can last up to four hours. Predators often think the opossum is dead and go away.
the name "opossum" was first used in western culture by Captain John Smith in 1608. It comes from the Algonquin name "apasum", which means white animal.
Cool Opossum Facts
* North America's only
marsupial
*Solitary and Nocturnal
*50 Sharp Teeth
*Omnivorous
*Adaptable: able to live wherever water, food, and shelter exist.
*Few live beyond the age of 1 year in the environment; rare reports of living 5
to 10 years in captivity. Killed by many predators: humans, cars, dogs,
cats, and owls.