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Didelphis virginiana
Sign in to saveAlso known as North American opossum, Virginian opossum, opossum, possum, Virginia opossum
species of mammal
The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is a cat-sized marsupial native to North America that is known for "playing possum"—feigning death when threatened as a defense mechanism. It matters because it's one of the most common wild mammals in many North American regions and plays an important ecological role by eating ticks, insects, and carrion.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Species
Least ConcernDidelphis virginiana
SPECIES
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderDidelphimorphia
- FamilyDidelphidae
北美負鼠（Didelphis virginiana）是棲息在北美洲格蘭德河以北唯一的有袋類動物。牠是獨行及夜間活動的動物，約有家貓的大小。牠們分佈在中美洲及北美洲，由哥斯達黎加至加拿大都有牠們的蹤跡，但似乎仍在向北擴展。牠們的祖先在南美洲開始演化，並在300萬年前藉南北美洲生物大遷徙而進入北美洲。
via GBIF · IUCN
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 5,230
- With media
- 111
- Family
- Didelphidae
- Collections
- SEMAHN, CIBYC-UAEM, MZFC-FC-UNAM, FB-UMSNH, IIZD-UASLP, CIBNOR
- Recorded in
- Mexico
Wikidata facts
Show 11 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- IUCN conservation status
- Least Concern
- taxon name
- Didelphis virginiana
- Commons category
- Didelphis virginiana
- Commons gallery
- Didelphis virginiana
- taxon common name
- North American Opossum
- gestation period
- 12.75
- longest observed lifespan
- 6.6
- sequenced genome URL
- www.dnazoo.org/assemblies/Didelphis_virginiana
- short name
- D. virginiana
- time in the pouch
- 2.5
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), also known as the North American opossum, is a member of the opossum family found from southern Canada to northern Costa Rica, making it the northernmost marsupial in the world. Commonly referred to simply as the possum, it is a solitary nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, and a successful opportunist.
Opossums are familiar to many North Americans as they frequently inhabit settled areas near food sources like trash cans, pet food, compost piles, gardens or housemice. Their slow, nocturnal nature and their attraction to roadside carrion make opossums more likely to become roadkill than other animals in their range.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Didelphis virginiana” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.