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Large American Opossums
Didelphis
The six species in the genus Didelphis, commonly known as large American opossums, are members of the order Didelphimorphia. The genus is composed of cat-sized omnivorous species, and are recognized on their prehensile tails and the tendency to "play possum" (feign dead) when cornered. The largest species, the Virginia opossum, is the only marsupial to be found in North America north of Mexico.
6 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 6 known species

Virginia Opossum
speciesDidelphis virginiana

Southern Opossum
speciesDidelphis marsupialis

White-eared Opossum
speciesDidelphis albiventris

Big-eared Opossum
speciesDidelphis aurita

Andean White-eared Opossum
speciesDidelphis pernigra

Guianan White-eared Opossum
speciesDidelphis imperfecta
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Didelphis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 42646.