Look up possum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Possum may refer to:
Possum may refer to:
Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a pouch. Living marsupials include kangaroos, koalas, opossums, Tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, and bandicoots among others, while many extinct species, such as the thylacine, Thylacoleo, and Diprotodon, are also known.
Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas. However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos.
The Virginia opossum, also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United States and Canada, it is typically called a possum. It is a solitary nocturnal animal about the size of a domestic cat, and a successful opportunist.
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 common brushtail possum is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, native to Australia and invasive in New Zealand, and the second-largest of the possums.
A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the tail cannot be used for this it is considered only partially prehensile; such tails are often used to anchor an animal's body to dangle from a branch, or as an aid for climbing. The term prehensile means "able to grasp".
There are many different types of gliding possum, sometimes referred to as volplane possum, flying phalangers, or simply as gliders:
The striped possum or common striped possum is a member of the marsupial family Petauridae. It is found mainly in New Guinea. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has white stripes that form a 'Y' shape. It is closely related to the sugar glider, and is similar in appearance.
The fauna of New Guinea comprises a large number of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, invertebrates and amphibians.
The eastern pygmy possum is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, sclerophyll forest, woodland and heath.
The scaly-tailed possum is found in northwestern Australia, where it is restricted to the Kimberley.
The Woodlark cuscus is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae endemic to Papua New Guinea, specifically on Madau and Woodlark Island, a part of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It happens to be the largest mammal living on Woodlark Island but it is also found on the neighboring island of Alcester, 70 kilometers south of Woodlark Island.
The Phalangeridae are a family of mostly nocturnal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Eastern Indonesia, including the cuscuses, brushtail possums, and their close relatives. Considered a type of possum, most species are arboreal, and they inhabit a wide range of forest habitats from alpine woodland to eucalypt forest and tropical jungle. Many species have been introduced to various non-native habitats by humans for thousands of years.
Cuscus is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum of the family Phalangeridae with the most tropical distribution:
The common brushtail possum was introduced from Australia to New Zealand, where it has become invasive and a major agricultural and conservation pest.
Pygmy opossum may refer to:
Opossums are marsupials that belong to order Didelphimorphia in the Western Hemisphere.
Perikoala is an extinct genus of marsupials, related to the modern koala. The genus diverged from a common ancestor of the other koala genera Nimiokoala, Litokoala, and Phascolarctos, which contains the living koala.