Opossum

Didelphidae[1]
Temporal range: Early Miocene–Recent
[2]
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Infraclass:Marsupialia
Order:Didelphimorphia
Gill, 1872
Family:Didelphidae
Gray, 1821
Genera

Several; see text

Diversity
108 species

The opossum (/əˈpɒsəm/) is a marsupial of the order Didelphimorphia (/daɪˌdɛlfɪˈmɔːrfiə/) endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 103 or more species in 19 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of the two continents. Their unspecialized biology, flexible diet, and reproductive habits make them successful colonizers and survivors in diverse locations and conditions.[3] The animal is also known as a possum, particularly in North America.[4]

Etymology

The word "opossum" is borrowed from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom) and William Strachey (as aposoum).[5] Both men encountered the language at the British settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, which Smith helped to found and where Strachey later served as its first secretary.[6] Strachey's notes describe the opossum as a "beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike," while Smith recorded it "hath an head like a swine ... tail like a rat ... of the bigness of a cat."[6] The Powhatan word ultimately derives from a Proto-Algonquian word (*wa·p-aʔθemwa) meaning "white dog or dog-like beast."[6]

The opossum is also commonly known as a "possum", particularly in North America.[4] Following the arrival of Europeans in Australia, the term "possum" was borrowed to describe distantly related Australian marsupials of the suborder Phalangeriformes,[7] which are more closely related to other Australian marsupials such as kangaroos.

"Didelphimorphia" refers to the fact that, like all marsupials, these animals have two ("di") wombs ("delphus").[8]

Characteristics

Skeleton of the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica)

Didelphimorphs are small to medium-sized marsupials that grow to the size of a house cat. They tend to be semi-arboreal omnivores, although there are many exceptions. Most members of this taxon have long snouts, a narrow braincase, and a prominent sagittal crest. The dental formula is: 5.1.3.44.1.3.4. By mammalian standards, this is an unusually full jaw. The incisors are very small, the canines large, and the molars are tricuspid.

Didelphimorphs have a plantigrade stance (feet flat on the ground) and the hind feet have an opposable digit with no claw. Like some New World monkeys, opossums have prehensile tails. Like that of all marsupials, the fur consists of awn hair only, and the females have a pouch. The tail and parts of the feet bear scutes. The stomach is simple, with a small cecum.[9] Like most marsupials, the male opossum has a forked penis bearing twin glandes.[10][11][9]

Although all living opossums are essentially opportunistic omnivores, different species vary in the amount of meat and vegetation they include in their diet. Members of the Caluromyinae are essentially frugivorous; whereas the lutrine opossum and Patagonian opossum primarily feed on other animals.[12] The yapok (Chironectes minimus) is particularly unusual, as it is the only living semi-aquatic marsupial, using its webbed hindlimbs to dive in search of freshwater mollusks and crayfish.[13] The extinct Thylophorops, the largest known opossum at 4–7 kg, was a macropredator.[14][15][16] Most opossums are scansorial, well-adapted to life in the trees or on the ground, but members of the Caluromyinae and Glironiinae are primarily arboreal, whereas species of Metachirus, Monodelphis, and to a lesser degree Didelphis show adaptations for life on the ground.[17]

Reproduction and life cycle

As a marsupial, the female opossum has a reproductive system that includes a bifurcated vagina, a divided uterus and a marsupium, which is her pouch.[18] The average estrous cycle of the opossum is about 28 days.[19] Opossums do possess a placenta,[20] but it is short-lived, simple in structure, and, unlike that of placental mammals, not fully functional.[21] The young are therefore born at a very early stage, although the gestation period is similar to that of many other small marsupials, at only 12 to 14 days.[22] Once born, the offspring must find their way into the marsupium to hold on to and nurse from a teat. Baby opossums, like their Australian cousins, are called joeys.[23] Female opossums often give birth to very large numbers of young, most of which fail to attach to a teat, although as many as thirteen young can attach,[24] and therefore survive, depending on species. The young are weaned between 70 and 125 days, when they detach from the teat and leave the pouch. 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.[25]

The species are moderately sexually dimorphic with males usually being slightly larger, much heavier, and having larger canines than females.[24] The largest difference between the opossum and non-marsupial mammals is the bifurcated penis of the male and bifurcated vagina of the female (the source of the term "didelphimorph," from the Greek "didelphys," meaning double-wombed).[26] Opossum spermatozoa exhibit sperm-pairing, forming conjugate pairs in the epididymis. This may ensure that flagella movement can be accurately coordinated for maximal motility. Conjugate pairs dissociate into separate spermatozoa before fertilization.[27]

Behavior

An opossum "playing dead"

Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above.[28][29]

Juvenile opossum hissing defensively.

When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. 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 animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to four hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.[30]

Some species of opossums have prehensile tails, although dangling by the tail is more common among juveniles. An opossum may also use its tail as a brace and a fifth limb when climbing. The tail is occasionally used as a grip to carry bunches of leaves or bedding materials to the nest.[31] A mother will sometimes carry her young upon her back, where they will cling tightly even when she is climbing or running.

Threatened opossums (especially males) will growl deeply, raising their pitch as the threat becomes more urgent. Males make a clicking "smack" noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. The mother in return makes the clicking sound and waits for the baby to find her. If threatened, the baby will open its mouth and quietly hiss until the threat is gone.

Habitat

Opossums are found in North, Central, and South America. The Virginia opossum lives in regions as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America, while other types of opossums only inhabit countries south of the United States.[32] The Virginia opossum can often be found in wooded areas, though its habitat may vary widely.[33] Opossums have been moving north in recent years, likely due to climate change.[34]

Hunting and foodways

The Virginia opossum was once widely hunted and consumed in the United States.[35][36][37][38] Opossum farms have been operated in the United States in the past.[39][40][41] Sweet potatoes were eaten together with the possum in America's southern area.[42][43] South Carolina cuisine includes opossum,[44] and President Jimmy Carter hunted opossums[45][46] in addition to other small game.[47][48] Raccoon, opossum, partridges, prairie hen, and frogs were among the fare Mark Twain recorded as part of American cuisine.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]

In Dominica, Grenada, Trinidad, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the common opossum or manicou is popular and can only be hunted during certain times of the year owing to overhunting.[60] The meat is traditionally prepared by smoking, then stewing. It is light and fine-grained, but the musk glands must be removed as part of preparation. The meat can be used in place of rabbit and chicken in recipes. Historically, hunters in the Caribbean would place a barrel with fresh or rotten fruit to attract opossums that would feed on the fruit or insects.

In northern/central Mexico, opossums are known as "tlacuache" or "tlacuatzin". Their tails are eaten as a folk remedy to improve fertility.[61] In the Yucatán peninsula they are known in the Yucatec Mayan language as "och"[62] and they are not considered part of the regular diet by Mayan people, but still considered edible in times of famine.

Opossum oil (possum grease) is high in essential fatty acids and has been used as a chest rub and a carrier for arthritis remedies given as topical salves.[63][64][65]

Opossum pelts have long been part of the fur trade.

Classification

The range of Didelphis virginiana across North America in green

Classification based on Voss and Jansa (2009)[66]

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, A. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 3–18. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ↑ Goin, Francisco; Abello, Alejandra; Bellosi, Eduardo; Kay, Richard; Madden, Richard; Carlini, Alfredo (2007). "Los Metatheria sudamericanos de comienzos del Neógeno (Mioceno Temprano, Edad-mamífero Colhuehuapense). Parte I: Introducción, Didelphimorphia y Sparassodonta". Ameghiniana. 44 (1): 29–71.
  3. ↑ Ibrahim, Amal Attia El-Morsy (2017). Pictured Glossary in Biology. Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. USA. ISBN 9781618963680.
  4. 1 2 "Opossums". National Geographic. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ Mithun, Marianne (2001). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. p. 332. ISBN 978-0-521-29875-9.
  6. 1 2 3 Siebert, Jr., Frank T. (1975). "Resurrecting Virginia Algonquian from the Dead: The Reconstituted and Historical Phonology of Powhatan". In Crawford, James Mack. Studies in Southeastern Indian Languages. University of Georgia Press.
  7. ↑ "possum". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Didelphimorphia". Wordnik. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  9. 1 2 Krause, William J.; Krause, Winifred A. (2006).The Opossum: Its Amazing Story Archived 2012-12-11 at the Wayback Machine.. Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri. p. 39
  10. ↑ Martinelli, P.M.; Nogueira, J.C. (1997). "Penis morphology as a distinctive character of the murine opossum group (Marsupialia Didelphidae): A preliminary report". Mammalia. 61 (2). doi:10.1515/mamm.1997.61.2.161.
  11. ↑ De Barros, M. A.; Panattoni Martins, J. F.; Samoto, V. Y.; Oliveira, V. C.; Gonçalves, N.; Mançanares, C. A.; Vidane, A.; Carvalho, A. F.; Ambrósio, C. E.; Miglino, M. A. (2013). "Marsupial morphology of reproduction: South America opossum male model" (PDF). Microscopy Research and Technique. 76 (4): 388–97. doi:10.1002/jemt.22178. PMID 23362127.
  12. ↑ Vieira, Emerson R.; De Moraes, D. Astua (2003). "Carnivory and insectivory in Neotropical marsupials". Predators with Pouches: the biology of carnivorous marsupials. Csiro Publishing. pp. 267–280. ISBN 978-0-643-06634-2.
  13. ↑ Marshall, Larry G. (1978). "Chironectes minimus". Mammalian Species. 109 (99): 1–6. doi:10.2307/3504051. JSTOR 3504051.
  14. 1 2 Goin, Francisco J.; Natalia Zimicz; Martin de los Reyes; Leopoldo Soibelzon (2009). "A new large didelphid of the genus Thylophorops (Mammalia: Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae), from the late Tertiary of the Pampean Region (Argentina)". Zootaxa. 2005: 35–46.
  15. ↑ Prevosti, Francisco J.; Forasiepi, Analía; Zimicz, Natalia (2011). "The Evolution of the Cenozoic Terrestrial Mammalian Predator Guild in South America: Competition or Replacement?". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 20: 3–21. doi:10.1007/s10914-011-9175-9.
  16. ↑ Cenizo, Marcos; Soibelzon, Esteban; Magnussen Saffer, Mariano (2015). "Mammalian predator–prey relationships and reoccupation of burrows in the Pliocene of the Pampean Region (Argentina): New ichnological and taphonomic evidence". Historical Biology. 28 (8): 1026–1040. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1089868.
  17. ↑ Flores, David A. (2009). "Phylogenetic analysis of postcranial skeletal morphology in didelphid marsupials". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 320: 1–81. doi:10.1206/320.1. hdl:2246/5953.
  18. ↑ Campbell, N. & Reece, J. (2005) Biology. Pearson Education Inc.
  19. ↑ Reproduction – Life Cycle. opossumsocietyus.org.
  20. ↑ Enders, A.C. & Enders, R.K. (2005). "The placenta of the four-eyed opossum (Philander opossum)". The Anatomical Record. 165 (3): 431–439. doi:10.1002/ar.1091650311. PMID 5346723.
  21. ↑ Krause, W.J. & Cutts, H. (1985). "Placentation in the Opossum, Didelphis virginiana". Acta Anatomica. 123 (3): 156–171. doi:10.1159/000146058. PMID 4061035.
  22. ↑ O'Connell, Margaret A. (1984). Macdonald, D., ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 830–837. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5.
  23. ↑ Mellor, D. J.; Lentle, R. G. (2015). "Survival implications of the development of behavioural responsiveness and awareness in different groups of mammalian young". New Zealand Veterinary Journal. 63 (3): 131–40. doi:10.1080/00480169.2014.969349. PMID 25266360.
  24. 1 2 Virginia Opossum. Didelphis virginiana. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
  25. ↑ Opossum Facts. opossum.org.
  26. ↑ "Possum Hunt". Archived from the original on 2013-11-10.
  27. ↑ Moore, H.D. (1996). "Gamete biology of the new world marsupial, the grey short-tailed opossum, monodelphis domestica". Reproduction, Fertility, and Development. 8 (4): 605–15. doi:10.1071/RD9960605.
  28. ↑ Hamilton, W. J., Jr. (1958). "Life history and economic relations of the opossum (Didelphis marsupialis virginiana) in New York State". Cornell Univ. Agric. Exp. Sta. Memoirs. 354: 1–48.
  29. ↑ "Opossums – Living with Wildlife | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife". wdfw.wa.gov. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  30. ↑ Found an Orphaned or injured Opossum?. Opossumsocietyus.org. Retrieved on 2012-05-03.
  31. ↑ González, E.M.; Claramunt, S. (2000). "Behaviors of captive short-tailed Opossums, Monodelphis dimidiata (Wagner, 1847) (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae)". Mammalia. 64 (3). doi:10.1515/mamm.2000.64.3.271.
  32. ↑ "opossum | marsupial". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  33. ↑ "Virginia Opossum – Didelphis virginiana – NatureWorks". www.nhptv.org. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  34. ↑ "Maine's marsupials: Opossums continue to move north". Bangor Daily News. 2012-10-26.
  35. ↑ Sutton, Keith (January 12, 2009) Possum days gone. ESPN Outdoors.
  36. ↑ Wild Game Recipes online. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  37. ↑ Powell, Bonnie Azab (2006-10-14) The joy of the ‘Joy of Cooking,’ circa 1962. ethicurean.com.
  38. ↑ Apicius (2012). Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome. Courier Corporation. pp. 205–. ISBN 978-0-486-15649-1.
  39. ↑ McNulty, Timothy (September 6, 1978). "Possums Are His Passion". The Evening Independent.
  40. ↑ "'Possum Man' is Mayor". The Hour. September 29, 1978.
  41. ↑ Moser, Mike (August 6, 2004). "King of the possums is dead". Crossville Chronicle.
  42. ↑ Jones, Evan (2007). American Food: The Gastronomic Story. Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1-58567-904-1.
  43. ↑ "Possum Recipes". 11 November 1999. Archived from the original on 11 November 1999.
  44. ↑ "Cooking a Possum". 9 November 1999. Archived from the original on 9 November 1999.
  45. ↑ Carter, Jimmy (1995). Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems. Times Books. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-0-8129-2434-3.
  46. ↑ Raum, Elizabeth (13 September 2011). Gift of Peace: The Jimmy Carter Story: The Jimmy Carter Story. Zonderkidz. pp. 15–. ISBN 978-0-310-72757-6.
  47. ↑ "President Jimmy Carter Inducted into Georgia Hunting and Fishing Hall of Fame".
  48. ↑ Doolittle, Leslie (February 11, 2001). "Carter Shares Times". Orlando Sentinel.
  49. ↑ Twain, Mark; Warner, Charles Dudley (1904). The Writings of Mark Twain [pseud.].: A tramp abroad. Harper & Bros. pp. 263–.
  50. ↑ "Mark Twain's Rapturous List of His Favorite American Foods". 2 March 2012.
  51. ↑ "A little bill of fare". listsofnote.com. 2 March 2012.
  52. ↑ Clemens, Samuel Langhorne (1907). The Writings of Mark Twain [pseud.]. Harper. pp. 263–.
  53. ↑ Warner, Charles Dudley (1907). The Writings of Mark Twain [pseud.]: A tramp abroad. Harper & brothers. pp. 263–.
  54. ↑ Twain, Mark (27 October 2010). Mark Twain's Library of Humor. Random House Publishing Group. pp. 200–. ISBN 978-0-307-76542-0.
  55. ↑ Twain, Mark (1901). A tramp abroad. American Publishing Company. pp. 263–.
  56. ↑ Twain, Mark (18 October 2004). Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living: A Handbook for the Damned Human Race. University of California Press. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-0-520-93134-3.
  57. ↑ Howells, William Dean (1888). Mark Twain's Library of Humor. Charles L. Webster & Company. pp. 232–.
  58. ↑ DiGregorio, Sarah (6 July 2010). "Mark Twain Eats America". villagevoice.com.
  59. ↑ Walker Linsenmeyer, Helen; Kraig, Bruce (2011). Cooking Plain, Illinois Country Style. SIU Press. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-8093-3074-4.
  60. ↑ "Southern Caribbean: Islands of Martinique, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Ecoregions | WWF". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  61. ↑ "tlacuache". Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana. Biblioteca Digital de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana.
  62. ↑ Worley, Paul M. (2013). Telling and Being Told: Storytelling and Cultural Control in Contemporary Yucatec Maya Literatures. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 9780816530267 – via Google Books.
  63. ↑ Silva, Andréa Leme da (2008). "Animais medicinais: Conhecimento e uso entre as populações ribeirinhas do rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil". Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas. 3 (3): 343–357. doi:10.1590/S1981-81222008000300005.
  64. ↑ Pinto, Angélica Auxiliadora da Costa; Maduro, Cice Batalha (2003). "Produtos e subprodutos da medicina popular comercializados na cidade de Boa Vista, Roraima". Acta Amazonica. 33 (2): 281–290. doi:10.1590/1809-4392200332290.
  65. ↑ Barros, Flávio B.; Varela, Susana AM; Pereira, Henrique M.; Vicente, Luís (2012). "Medicinal use of fauna by a traditional community in the Brazilian Amazonia". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 8: 37. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-8-37. PMC 3502351. PMID 23013927.
  66. ↑ Voss, Robert S.; Jansa, Sharon A. (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships and classification of didelphid marsupials, an extant radiation of New World metatherian mammals". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 322: 1–177. doi:10.1206/322.1. hdl:2246/5975.
  67. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goin, Francisco J.; Pardinas, Ulyses F. J. (1996). "Revision de las especies del genero Hyperdidelphys Ameghino, 1904 (Mammalia, Marsupialia, Didelphidae. Su significacion filogenetica, estratigrafica y adaptativa en el Neogeno del Cono Sur sudamericano". Estudios Geologicos. 52 (5–6): 327–359. doi:10.3989/egeol.96525-6275.
  68. ↑ Goin, Francisco J.; de los Reyes, Martin (2011). "Contribution to the knowledge of living representatives of the genus Lutreolina Thomas, 1910 (Mammalia, Marsupialia, Didelphidae)". Historia Natural. 1 (2): 15–25. JSTOR 20627135.
  69. ↑ Martínez-Lanfranco, Juan A.; Flores, David; Jayat, J. Pablo; d'Elía, Guillermo (2014). "A new species of lutrine opossum, genus Lutreolina Thomas (Didelphidae), from the South American Yungas". Journal of Mammalogy. 95 (2): 225. doi:10.1644/13-MAMM-A-246.
  70. ↑ Cozzuol, Mario A.; Goin, Francisco J.; de los Reyes, Martin; Ranzi, Alceu (2006). "The oldest species of Didelphis (Mammalia, Marsupialia, Didelphidae) from the late Miocene of Amazonia". Journal of Mammalogy. 87 (4): 663–667. doi:10.1644/05-MAMM-A-282R2.1.
  71. 1 2 3 Goin, Francisco J. (1997). "New clues for understanding Neogene marsupial radiations". Vertebrate Paleontology of the Miocene in Colombia. A History of the Neotropical Fauna. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. pp. 185–204. ISBN 978-1-56098-418-4.
  72. 1 2 Pavan, Silvia Eliza; Rossi, Rogerio Vieira; Schneider, Horacio (2012). "Species diversity in the Monodelphis brevicaudata complex (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) inferred from molecular and morphological data, with the description of a new species". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 165: 190–223. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00791.x.
  73. ↑ Solari, S. (2016). Monodelphis handleyi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T199833A22171921.en
  74. ↑ Voss, Robert S.; Pine, Ronald H.; Solari, Sergio (2012). "A New Species of the Didelphid Marsupial Genus Monodelphis from Eastern Bolivia". American Museum Novitates. 3740 (3740): 1. doi:10.1206/3740.2.
  75. ↑ Flores, D. & Teta, P. (2016). Thylamys citellus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T199835A22172943.en
  76. ↑ Martin, G.M. & Flores, D. (2016). Thylamys fenestrae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T199836A22172852.en
  77. ↑ Flores, D. & Teta, P. (2016). Thylamys pulchellus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T199834A22172571.en
  78. ↑ Goin, Francisco J.; Montalvo, C.I.; Visconti, G. (2000). "Los marsupiales (Mammalia) del Mioceno Superior de la Formacion Cerro Azul (Provincia de La Pampa, Argentina)". Estudios Geologicos. 56: 101–126. doi:10.3989/egeol.00561-2158.
  79. ↑ Goin, Francisco J. (1997). "Thylamys zettii, nueva especie de marmosino (Marsupialia, Didelphidae) del Cenozoico tardio de la region Pampeana". Ameghiniana. 34 (4): 481–484.
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