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The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only one to two years in the wild and as long as four or more years in captivity. Senescence is rapid. [37] Opossums are moderately sexually dimorphic with males usually being larger, heavier, and having larger canines than females. [36]
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.
The big lutrine opossum ("lutrine" means "otter-like" and "crass" meaning "thick, fat" and "cauda" meaning "tail") is a very peculiar opossum, having a long weasel-like body, short legs, small rounded ears, and dense reddish or yellowish fur. [3] Nocturnal and crepuscular, they generally live in grasslands and savannas near water. They are ...
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]
Virginia opossums can vary considerably in size, with larger specimens found to the north of the opossum's range and smaller specimens in the tropics. They measure 33–55 cm (13–22 in) long from their snout to the base of the tail, with the tail adding another 25–54 cm (9.8–21.3 in).
The species are commonly known as possums, opossums, [3] gliders, and cuscus. The common name "(o)possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatan language aposoum "white animal", from Proto-Algonquian * wa·p-aʔɬemwa "white dog"). [ 4 ]
It would later be elevated to species by German zoologist Paul Matschie in 1916, [5] before being considered a subspecies of Philander opossum again in 1924 by Gerrit Smith Miller, Jr. [6] It would remain at subspecific status until 2018, when an analysis of the cytochrome b, nucDNA, and physical characteristics warranted species status again. [7]
The common name "four-eyed opossum" comes from the spots above the eyes of this species looking like another set of eyes. The specific name " canus " comes from Latin and means "white" or " hoary ", [ 4 ] in reference to the lighter color of this species.