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.
The white-eared opossum, known as the timbu and cassaco in northeast Brazil, saruê and sariguê in Bahia, micurê and mucura in northern Brazil and comadreja overa in Argentina, is an opossum species found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is a terrestrial and, sometimes, arboreal animal, and a habitat generalist, living in a wide range of different habitats.
The brown-eared woolly opossum, also known as the western woolly opossum, is an opossum from South America. It was first described by German naturalist Ignaz von Olfers in 1818. The opossum is characterized by a brown to reddish brown coat and similarly colored limbs, yellow to orange underbelly, hairless, brown ears with a hint of pink, and a tail furred on the back for up to half of its length. The brown-eared woolly opossum is nocturnal, solitary and omnivorous. The IUCN lists it as least concern.
The big-eared opossum, also known as a saruê, is an opossum species from South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
The Guianan white-eared opossum is an opossum species from South America. It is found in Brazil, Suriname, French Guiana and Venezuela.
The common opossum, 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, including Trinidad and Tobago and the Windwards in the Caribbean, where it is called manicou. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities.
Derby's woolly opossum, or the Central American woolly opossum, is an opossum found in deciduous and moist evergreen forests of Central America, from southern Mexico to western Ecuador and Colombia. It was first described by English naturalist George Robert Waterhouse, and named in honor of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby. Derby's woolly opossum is the largest in its genus, with a total length of 60 to 70 centimetres and weight between 200 and 400 grams. The coat is brown and the underside white-buff to golden-brown. The opossum is nocturnal, arboreal (tree-living) and solitary. Diet consists of fruits, nectar, small invertebrates and vertebrates. The time when breeding takes place varies geographically. The litter size ranges from one to six. The IUCN classifies this opossum as least concern.
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.
