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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

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Maximum longevity: 4.2 years (captivity) Observations: Although there are anecdotal reports suggesting a longer lifespan in captivity, the longest-lived specimen was a 4.2 year old at Rotterdam Zoo (Richard Weigl 2005).
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Trophic Strategy

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Southern opossums are omnivorous and will eat a large variety of food. In captivity they especially like bananas. They are opportunistic feeders and will readily shift home ranges in search of food. Feeding habits of males and females do not differ significantly, but there are differences in food preferences between young and old. Younger individuals primarily consume invertebrates, fruits, and plant remains, whereas older individuals consume all of these, as well as mammals and birds.

Foods eaten include: insects, frogs, birds, small mammals, earthworms, fruits and plant remains.

(Cordero and Nicolas, 1987)

Animal Foods: birds; mammals; amphibians; insects; terrestrial worms

Plant Foods: fruit

Primary Diet: omnivore

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Chris Yahnke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Associations

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The most well-known adaptation for evading predators is known as "playing dead" or "playing opossum." An opossums will lie on its side as if dead with its tails rolled up, eyes and mouth open, and its paws partially closed. (Parker, 1990) Common predators of southern opossums include owls, snakes, and mammalian carnivores.

Known Predators:

  • screech owls (Otus)
  • snakes (Serpentes)
  • mammalian carnivores (Carnivora)
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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Morphology

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There is considerable color variation in southern opossums. Generally there are varying degrees of black in the dorsal pelage, while the ventral side is white. This species is similar to D. albiventris, but has a darker dorsal pelage and black ears. Females are generally smaller than males (Cerqueira, 2000). The length of the head and body ranges from 263mm to 430 mm, with a tail length ranging from 295mm to 450 mm (Elizondo, 1999). Males are larger than females.

Range mass: 0.6 to 2.4 kg.

Range length: 263 to 450 mm.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Average basal metabolic rate: 3.31 W.

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Chris Yahnke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Life Expectancy

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These animals probably do not live that long in the wild. It has been reported that they usually live about two years in their natural habitat, but they can live up to seven years in captivity.

Average lifespan
Status: wild:
2 years.

Range lifespan
Status: captivity:
7 (high) years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity:
4.2 years.

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Habitat

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Didelphis marsupialis tolerates a variety of habitat types including primary and secondary forests, coffee plantations, urban and suburban area (Elizondo C, 1999), but are not found at elevations above 2,232 m or in arid regions. Didelphis marsupialis is replaced by its close relative, Didelphis albiventris (white-eared Opossum), in montane regions of northern South America (Eisenberg, 1989).

Range elevation: 2,232 (high) m.

Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; mountains

Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Distribution

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The range of the southern opossum extends from eastern Mexico to northeastern Argentina (Redford and Eisenberg, 1992).

Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Associations

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Didelphis marsupialis plays an important role in food webs. Because of its feeding habits, this species is likely to be important in controlling populations of small mammals and invertebrates. Because it is a prey species, it also plays an important role in regulating populations of owls and small, mammalian carnivores.

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Chris Yahnke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Benefits

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No reported positive effects on humans exist.

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Benefits

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In Venezuela, D. marsupialis is an important host for the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which is the source for the human illness known as Chagas Disease (Eisenberg, 1989).

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Chris Yahnke, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Life Cycle

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See Reproduction.

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Conservation Status

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This species has no special conservation status.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Behavior

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Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Kristen Hagmann, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Reproduction

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Males mark territories more heavily with saliva prior to the breeding season. Females construct leafy nests for their new families. (Eisenberg, 1989; Eisenberg and Redford, 1992) Mating is most likely polygynous, with males mating those females present in their territories.

Mating System: polygynous

Mating season begins in January, with males marking their home range more heavily with saliva and females building leaf nests in tree cavities or burrows. In captivity it has been reported that females can have an average litter size of ten, and up to three litters have been reported in one year. Also, the smallest litter sizes are found near the equator.

The young are born naked and blind and on average weigh about 0.005 oz and measure 10 mm in length. This amazingly small body size means that twenty four newborns can fit into a teaspoon! The newborns must find their way to their mother's marsupium or pouch. They can only move with their forelegs, which are more developed than their hind legs. There are two theories as to how the newborns find their way to the marsupium. The first, and best supported, theory is that newborns find their way to the marsupium by smell. Before birth the mother will lick a path to the opening of the pouch so that the young can follow the trail. The second theory is that the young find their way to the pouch through gravity. Once the newborns have found the marsupium, they attach to the teats, which then swell at the tip preventing the newborns from falling off. The young grow rapidly and are ready to leave the marsupium after about sixty days. (Parker, 1990)

The young are weaned around 100 days. The young reach sexual maturity between 8 and 12 months of age. (Eisenberg, 1989; Eisenberg and Redford, 1992)

Breeding season: The mating season begins in January and ends with the onset of the dry season

Average number of offspring: 10.

Average gestation period: 13-14 days.

Average weaning age: 100 days.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8 to 12 months.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 8 to 12 months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous

Average birth mass: 0.2 g.

Average gestation period: 12 days.

Average number of offspring: 6.

The female cares for the young in her marsupium, or pouch, for 60 days. The young are not weaned until they are about 100 days old. (Eisenberg, 1989; Eisenberg and Redford, 1992)

Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care

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Hagmann, K. 2003. "Didelphis marsupialis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Didelphis_marsupialis.html
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Common opossum

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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 in the Caribbean,[2] where it is called manicou.[3] It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities.

Habitat and shelter

This opossum is found in tropical and subtropical forest, both primary and secondary, at altitudes up to 2200 m.[2] They use a wide range of nest sites. Most commonly they will create one in the hollow of a tree; however, they will also dig a burrow or nest in any dark location if nothing else is suitable (which often gets them in trouble with humans). Opossums enjoy denning underground, but do not spend as much time underground when it is dry season. [4] Common predators of the opossum are humans, house pets (ex: dogs and cats), and birds.[5] When they are in danger, they act dead, also called, 'playing opossum.' [6]

Description

Skeleton, Natural History Museum of Genoa

The common opossum is similar in size to a house cat. The fur of the opossum is actually yellow in the under-fur, but is hidden by the longer black guard-hairs that cover it, while the tail, fingers, and face are lighter "with the tail being without fur, somewhat similar to a giant rat tail". It can measure nearly 20 inches long. It has large ears that are usually black, and its face is usually a pale peach in color, with black whiskers and eyes that reflect reddish in light. With a body length of nearly a foot, and a tail that can reach almost two feet, the common opossum is one of the larger members of its family. An adult can weigh more than three pounds.

Behavior

Their activity is mainly nocturnal and terrestrial, with some arboreal exploration and nesting. Outside of mating, they are usually solitary. A male opossum's home range (distance traveled at night) can vary in size from wet to dry seasons while a female has a more stationary home range when she is breeding. [4] Males are most active between 11 pm and 3 am at night.[7] They are considered pests due to their somewhat raccoon-like behavior. Raiding trash cans, nesting in locations that are not suitable, and causing mayhem if encountered within a human living space, they are often trapped and killed. Opossums have not been observed to be territorial.[4] The common opossum is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Gigantorhynchus lutzi.[8]

Common predators of the opossum are humans, house pets (ex: dogs and cats), and birds.[5] When they are in danger, they act dead, also called, 'playing opossum'.[6]

Diet

Common opossums have a broad ability to adapt to environmental changes, and their teeth allow them to eat many different types of food, which is obtained mostly on the ground. They can eat insects (such as beetles and grasshoppers)[9] and other invertebrates (such as earthworms),[10] small vertebrates (toads [such as cane toads], snakes [such as South American rattlesnakes], birds [such as lance-tailed manakins], and small mammals),[11] fruits, vegetables, nectar,[12] and also carrion. In urban areas, they may find articles of food in compost piles and garbage cans.[13] Their ability to digest almost anything edible gives them a broader range than a human.

Reproduction

The female will have 5-9 offspring between one and three times per year after maturity. The mother raises the young by herself. The common opossum can mate for the majority of the calendar year. They do not mate for life.[14] Female opossums can give birth to at most 24 infants, however, only a third of them usually survive. Young opossums stay with the mother for the first few months of their lives and reach maturity before they are a year old.

Lifespan

The common opossum lives for around 2-4 years.

Classification

They are members of the genus Didelphis, which contains the largest American opossums, and the order Didelphimorphia, to which all Western hemisphere opossums belong. The common opossum is currently not an endangered species.[15]

References

  1. ^ Gardner, A.L. (2005). "Order Didelphimorphia". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b c d Astúa, D.; Lew, D.; Costa, L.P.; Pérez-Hernandez, R. (2021). "Didelphis marsupialis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T40501A197310576. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T40501A197310576.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Checklist of Mammals of Trinidad and Tobago". Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Biodiversity Clearing House. 2005. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-10-24.
  4. ^ a b c Sunquist, Mel E.; Austad, Steven N.; Sunquist, Fiona (1987). "Movement Patterns and Home Range in the Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis)". Journal of Mammalogy. 68 (1): 173–176. doi:10.2307/1381069. ISSN 0022-2372. JSTOR 1381069.
  5. ^ a b "Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) | Incredible Facts". A-Z Animals.
  6. ^ a b Martina, Leila Siciliano. "Didelphis marsupialis (southern opossum)". Animal Diversity Web.
  7. ^ Vaughan, Christopher S; Foster Hawkins, L (1969-12-31). "Late dry season habitat use of common opossum, Didelphis marsupialis (Marsupialia: Didelphidae) in neotropical lower montane agricultural areas". Revista de Biología Tropical: 263–269. doi:10.15517/rbt.v47i1-2.19075. ISSN 2215-2075.
  8. ^ Nascimento Gomes, Ana Paula; Cesário, Clarice Silva; Olifiers, Natalie; de Cassia Bianchi, Rita; Maldonado, Arnaldo; Vilela, Roberto do Val (December 2019). "New morphological and genetic data of Gigantorhynchus echinodiscus (Diesing, 1851) (Acanthocephala: Archiacanthocephala) in the giant anteater Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus, 1758 (Pilosa: Myrmecophagidae)". International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife. 10: 281–288. doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.09.008. PMC 6906829. PMID 31867208.
  9. ^ "Didelphis marsupialis (Southern opossum)". Animal Diversity Web.
  10. ^ "Didelphis marsupialis (Southern opossum)". Animal Diversity Web.
  11. ^ "Didelphis marsupialis (Southern opossum)". Animal Diversity Web.
  12. ^ "Didelphis marsupialis (Southern opossum)". Animal Diversity Web.
  13. ^ "Didelphis marsupialis (Common Opossum or Manicou)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  14. ^ Medellín, Rodrigo A. (2004). Michael Hutchins (ed.). Didelphimorphia (New World Opossums). Vol. 12 : Mammals I, Gale (2nd ed.). Gale eBooks. pp. 249–265. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
  15. ^ "Funk, Isaac Kaufman, (10 Sept. 1839–4 April 1912), author; President Funk & Wagnalls Company; Editor-in-chief of the various periodicals of Funk & Wagnalls Company; Editor-in-chief of the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, new edition revised 1903; Chairman of Editorial Board that produced Jewish Encyclopædia", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u186193, retrieved 2020-11-17
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Common opossum: Brief Summary

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The common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), also called the southern or black-eared opossum 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 in the Caribbean, where it is called manicou. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities.

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