Opossum (thing)

The opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is a marsupial, and probably the oldest living mammal on earth, with fossils found dating back as far as 130 million years. It is very common in North America, favouring a habitat near wooded areas and streams or rivers. They tend to live in the abandoned nests of other creatures, or in old shacks or rock cavities, rather than building nests of their own.

opossums have an opposable thumb on each hind foot, one of the only creatures apart from humans to use this feature. This, together with a partially prehensile tail, gives it excellent tree-climbing abilities. opossums are famous in America for being the origin of the phrase "Playing possum", due to the fact that, when threatened and without an escape route, they will lie down, letting themselves go limp and their tongue loll out, and making it seem as if they are dead. This is caused by an autonomic nervous shock reaction, and will cause many predators to lose interest.

An adult opossum can be roughly the size of a domestic cat, and, being omnivores, they feed on almost anything, including insects, snails, birds, worms, berries and fruit. This diet means that opossums are often found scavenging through trash cans. There is no need to maintain habitats for opossums because they are so adaptable, but hunting and killing is regulated in the US by the Department of Natural Resources in order to keep the population from declining.

Despite the similarity of name, the opossum is not related to the Australian possum.