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When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction.
The Phalangeridae are a family of mostly nocturnal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Eastern Indonesia, including the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and their close relatives. Considered a type of possum, most species are arboreal, and they inhabit a wide range of forest habitats from alpine woodland to eucalypt forest and tropical ...
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]
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 ]
Brushtail possums are known to be tolerant of many plant toxins and can eat tree leaves that other animals find poisonous. Possums also eat insects, moths, grubs, snails, birds’ eggs, and chicks. Many of the possums' favourite foods are unfortunately found in domestic gardens, drawing the possums into residential yards. [4]
The cashier then turned to a pair of singing possums played by Kenan Thompson and Ego Nwodim, ... Press PLAY above to watch the sketch, and give this week’s SNL a grade in our poll. Show comments.
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. [ 66 ] 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 .
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.