Didelphis
Sign in to saveDidelphis 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.
Taxonomy · GBIF
Virginia Opossum
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderDidelphimorphia
- FamilyDidelphidae
Observations72,259
Groupmammalia
via GBIF · iNaturalist · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Didelphini
- Image
- AwesomePossum-AmericanOpossum.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- P105
- genus
- P523
- Late Miocene
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Human interaction
- Phylogeny
- Species
- References
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. The largest species, the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), is the only marsupial to be found north of Mexico.