| |
For the Eastern Hemisphere marsupial, see possum.
Didelphimorphia[1]
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous–Recent
PreЄ
Є
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
|
| Virginia Opossum Didelphis virginiana |
Scientific classification
| Kingdom: |
Animalia
|
| Phylum: |
Chordata
|
| Class: |
Mammalia
|
| Infraclass: |
Marsupialia
|
| Order: |
Didelphimorphia
Gill, 1872 |
| Family: |
Didelphidae
Gray, 1821 |
Genera
|
Several; see text
|
Didelphimorphia (pronounced /daɪˌdɛlfɨˈmɔrfi.ə/) is the order of common opossums of the Western Hemisphere. They are commonly also called possums, though that term is also applied to Australian fauna of the suborder Phalangeriformes. The Virginia Opossum is the original animal named opossum. The word comes from Algonquian wapathemwa. Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American marsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene. A sister group is Paucituberculata (shrew opossums). |
|
|
