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Information about Common Opossum

Common Opossum[1]

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Infraclass:Marsupialia
Order:Didelphimorphia
Family:Didelphidae
Subfamily:Didelphinae
Genus:Didelphis
Species:D. marsupialis
Binomial name
Didelphis marsupialis
Linnaeus, 1758


The Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) or Manicou (so named in the Antilles)[3] is an opossum species living from the south of Mexico to Bolivia. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities.

The Common Opossum is approximatively as big as a cat. Its fine and smooth tail can mesure 50 cm. It has 50 teeth.

The Common Opossum is a nocturnal animal. During the day, it sleeps in the hollow of a tree. Its head stays under the rest of its body. It eats fruits (such as mangoes), worms, frogs, and insects but sometimes birds and eggs.

When the Common Opossum feels a danger, it emits a disagreeable smell.

The female births 5 to 9 young between 1 and 3 times the year. The new-borns are kept in the mother's pouch until they can survive on their own. Males take no part in raising the young. The Common Opossum live to the age of 2.5 years on average.

In the Antilles, people eat manicous. It is hunted during the night with a torch, which dazzles the animal. Since 17 February 1989, the species has been protected by French law.

There is some speculation that this opossum, like the armadillo and several other creatures originally from the tropics, has begun moving into the United States.[4]

The name "manicou" probably comes from a Native American language.

References

1. ^ Gardner, Alfred (November 16, 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 5-6. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 
2. ^ New World Marsupial Specialist Group (1996). Didelphis marsupialis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
3. ^ Mendes, John. 1986. Cote ce Cote la: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, p. 95.
4. ^ Gehlbach, Frederick R. (2002). Messages from the Wild: An Almanac of Suburban Natural and Unnatural History. University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 160. 
conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, nor Near Threatened, nor (prior to 2001) Conservation Dependent.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Marsupialia
Illiger, 1811

Orders
  • Didelphimorphia
  • Paucituberculata
  • Microbiotheria
  • Dasyuromorphia
  • Peramelemorphia
  • Notoryctemorphia
  • Diprotodontia
  • Sparassodonta (extinct)
  • Yalkaparidontia (extinct)
Marsupials
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Didelphimorphia
Gill, 1872

Family: Didelphidae
Gray, 1821

Genera

Several; see text
Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere.
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Didelphimorphia
Gill, 1872

Family: Didelphidae
Gray, 1821

Genera

Several; see text
Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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The Antilles (the same in French; Antillas in Spanish; Antillen in Dutch) refers to the islands forming the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea.
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Didelphimorphia
Gill, 1872

Family: Didelphidae
Gray, 1821

Genera

Several; see text
Didelphimorphia is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere.
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Anthem
Himno Nacional Mexicano


Capital
(and largest city) Mexico City

Official languages Spanish (
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Motto
"¡La unión es la fuerza!"   (Spanish)
"Unity is strength!"
Anthem
Bolivianos, el hado propicio
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F. s. catus

Trinomial name
Felis silvestris catus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms
Felis lybica invalid junior synonym
Felis catus invalid junior synonym[2]

The cat (
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nocturnality describes sleeping during the daytime and being active at night - the opposite of the diurnal human lifestyle, and that of those animals with which we are most familiar. The intermediate crepuscular schedule (twilight activity) is also common.
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Mangifera
L.

Species

About 35 species, including:
Mangifera altissima
Mangifera applanata
Mangifera caesia
Mangifera camptosperma
Mangifera casturi
Mangifera decandra

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pouch is a distinguishing feature of female marsupials; the name marsupial is derived from the Latin marsupium, meaning pouch. Marsupials give birth to a live but relatively undeveloped fetus called a joey. When the joey is born it crawls from inside the mother to the pouch.
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February 17 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1986 1987 1988 - 1989 - 1990 1991 1992

Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX
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Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"


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indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, First Nations
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IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
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IUCN

International Organization
Founded October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

Key people Mr Valli Moosa
Ms Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Industry Natural resource conservation
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