Opposum
Didelphis sp.
Where is it found?
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Coastal forests, woodland and swamps
Diet and foraging method
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Opposums forage at night.
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Key adaptations
Females have a pouch on their underside, in which they carry their young. They are good climbers and have a long prehensile tail that can cling to branches.
Social organisation and mating system
Solitary
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Opposums are polygynous or promiscuous.
Did you know that...?
Opposums have an interesting technique to avoid predation known as 'playing possum'. They try to look dead by rigidly lying on their side staring into space and foaming at the mouth with their tongue out. Opposums also release a fowl smell from specialised glands to make the act even more believable.
Taxonomy
Picture credits:
Maps from: http://species.mol.org/species/
"Opposum 1" by Jussi You-S-See - IMGP2309 sm. Licenced under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opposum_1.jpg#/media/File:Opposum_1.jpg
"Opposum 1" by Jussi You-S-See - IMGP2309 sm. Licenced under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opposum_1.jpg#/media/File:Opposum_1.jpg