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Thylamyini
The Didelphinae are a subfamily of opossums consisting of 15 genera and 123 species. Specimens have been collected throughout the Americas, but are predominant in South and Central America. Some sources call this subfamily the "American opossums", while others use that term for the whole family of opossums, Didelphidae. The term may be redundant, though, since all opossums are native to the Americas, while their distant Australian taxonomic relatives, in the suborder Phalangeriformes are referred to as possums in Australia. Classification * Subfamily Didelphinae ** Genus '' Chacodelphys'' *** '' C. formosa'' - Chacoan pygmy opossum ** Genus '' Chironectes'' *** '' C. minimus'' - water opossum ** Genus '' Cryptonanus'' *** '' C. agricolai'' - Agricola's gracile opossum *** '' C. chacoensis'' - Chacoan gracile opossum *** '' C. guahybae'' - Guahiba gracile opossum *** †'' C. ignitus'' - red-bellied gracile opossum *** '' C. unduaviensis'' - Unduavi gracile opossum ** Genus ''Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opossum
Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America in the late Cenozoic. The Virginia opossum is the only species found in the United States and Canada. It is often simply referred to as an opossum; in North America, it is commonly referred to as a possum (; sometimes rendered as ''possum'' in written form to indicate the dropped "o"). The Australasian arboreal marsupials of suborder Phalangeriformes are also called possums because of their resemblance to opossums, but they belong to a different order. The opossum is typically a nonaggressive animal and almost never carries the virus that causes rabies. Etymology The word ''opossum'' is derived from the Powhatan language and was first recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gracilinanus
''Gracilinanus'' is a genus of opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 126 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North A ... in the family Didelphidae. It was separated from the genus '' Marmosa'' in 1989, and has since had the genera '' Cryptonanus'', '' Chacodelphys'', and '' Hyladelphys'' removed from it. Physical description Gracile mouse opossums, excluding the fat-tailed mouse opossum, in general, have a prehensile tail that is thin and very long. The tails of mouse opossums are naked."Mouse opossum". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web 3 November 2012. Mouse opossums have ears that are, both, large and naked. General opossums, including ''Gracilinanus'' species, have noses that are pointed. Another general characteristic th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptonanus
''Cryptonanus'' is a genus of opossums from South America. It includes five species found from Bolivia to Uruguay and eastern Brazil, one of which is now extinct. Although the first species were discovered in 1931, the genus was not recognized as distinct from '' Gracilinanus'' until 2005. It includes small opossums with generally grayish, sometimes reddish, fur that are mainly distinguished from other opossums by characters of the skull. Taxonomy Species of ''Cryptonanus'' were first described in 1931 by George Henry Hamilton Tate,Voss et al., 2005, p. 5 who described ''Marmosa microtarsus guahybae'' (now '' Cryptonanus guahybae'') as a subspecies of ''Marmosa microtarsus'' (now '' Gracilinanus microtarsus''), ''Marmosa agilis chacoensis'' (now '' Cryptonanus chacoensis'') as a subspecies of ''Marmosa agilis'' (now '' Gracilinanus agilis''),Tate, 1931, p. 10 and ''Marmosa unduaviensis'' (now '' Cryptonanus unduaviensis'') as a separate species.Tate, 1931, p. 11 I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Opossum
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 and the only marsupial native to North America. Commonly referred to simply as the possum, it is a solitary nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, and a successful Opportunism#Biological, 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. Name The Virginia opossum is the original animal named "opossum", a word which comes from Algonquian languages, Algonquian , meaning "white animal". Colloquially, the Virginia opossum is frequently just called a "possum". The term is applied more generally to any of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agricola's Gracile Opossum
Agricola's gracile opossum (''Cryptonanus agricolai'') is a species of opossum in the family Didelphidae endemic to eastern Brazil. Its habitat is the caatinga and cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná .... While its conservation status has not been determined, expansion of agricultural activities is leading to loss of some of its habitat. There are several protected areas in the species' range but it has not been collected from these areas. The species is named after Brazilian physician Ernani Agricola. References Opossums Fauna of the Caatinga Fauna of the Cerrado Marsupials of Brazil Endemic mammals of Brazil Mammals described in 1943 {{marsupial-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phalangeriformes
Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal locomotion, arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, opossums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "(o)possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatan language ''aposoum'' "white animal", from proto-Algonquian language, Proto-Algonquian *''wa·p-aʔɬemwa'' "white dog"). However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australidelphia, Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos. Phalangeriformes are quadrupedalism, quadrupedal Diprotodontia, diprotodont marsupials with long tails. The smallest species, indeed the smallest diprotodont marsupial, is the Tasmanian pygmy possum, with an adult head-body length of and a weight of . The largest are the two species of be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the list of countries and dependencies by area, sixth-largest country in the world and the largest in Oceania. Australia is the world's flattest and driest inhabited continent. It is a megadiverse countries, megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and Climate of Australia, climates including deserts of Australia, deserts in the Outback, interior and forests of Australia, tropical rainforests along the Eastern states of Australia, coast. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south-east Asia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, during the Last Glacial Period, last glacial period. By the time of British settlement, Aboriginal Australians spoke 250 distinct l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chacoan Pygmy Opossum
The Chacoan pygmy opossum (''Chacodelphys formosa'') is a recently described genus and species of didelphimorph marsupial. The only species in ''Chacodelphys'', ''C. formosa'', was known until 2004 from only one specimen collected in 1920 in the Chaco of Formosa Province, Argentina. Description The Chacoan pygmy opossum is the smallest known species of didelphid. It has a head-body length of 68 mm, a tail of 55 mm and a hind foot of 11. It differs from the other " marmosine" genera ('' Marmosa'', '' Monodelphis'', '' Thylamys'', '' Tlacuatzin'', '' Gracilinanus'', '' Marmosops'', '' Lestodelphys'') in having a long third manual digit, no distinctly tricolored pelage, a long fourth pedal digit, and a tail shorter than head-body. No other marmosine genera has this combination of characters. It is endemic to a small region of northern Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Opossum
The water opossum (''Chironectes minimus''), also locally known as the yapok (), is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae.* It is the only monotypic species of its genus, ''Chironectes''. This semiaquatic creature is found in and near freshwater streams and lakes from Mexico through Central and South America to Argentina and is the most aquatic living marsupial (the lutrine opossum also has semiaquatic habits). It is also the only extant marsupial species in which both sexes have a pouch. The now extinct thylacine, commonly referred to as the Tasmanian tiger, also exhibited this trait. The local name for the water opossum, "yapok", may come from the name of the Oyapock River in French Guiana. Physical appearance The water opossum is small, measuring long, with a long tail. The fur is in a marbled grey and black pattern, while the muzzle, eyestripe, and crown are all black. A light band runs across the forehead anterior to the ears, which are rounded and hairless. There are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-bellied Gracile Opossum
The red-bellied gracile opossum (''Cryptonanus ignitus'') is an extinct species of opossum that was native to Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Its forest habitat has been destroyed, and it was last seen in 1962. It is likely a synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ... of the Chacoan gracile opossum. References * Opossums Endemic fauna of Argentina Marsupials of Argentina Extinct marsupials of South America Mammal extinctions since 1500 Mammals described in 2002 {{marsupial-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chacoan Gracile Opossum
The chacoan gracile opossum (''Cryptonanus chacoensis'') is a species of opossum in the family Didelphidae. It is native to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Its habitat is seasonally flooded grasslands and forests in and near the Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or simply Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland tropical dry broadleaf forest natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion o .... References * Opossums Marsupials of Argentina Marsupials of Brazil Mammals of Paraguay Gran Chaco Mammals described in 1931 Taxa named by George Henry Hamilton Tate {{marsupial-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guahiba Gracile Opossum
The Guahiba gracile opossum (''Cryptonanus guahybae'') is a species of opossum in the family Didelphidae. It is endemic to southern Brazil, where it is known only from three islands, Guahiba, São Lourenço, and Taquara, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The poorly studied species is presumed to inhabit subtropical forests, and thus to be threatened by deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab .... References * * Opossums Endemic mammals of Brazil Environment of Rio Grande do Sul Marsupials of Brazil Mammals described in 1931 Taxa named by George Henry Hamilton Tate {{marsupial-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
