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Project Noah Nature School
colloquially possums
Opossums (colloquially possums) (Didelphimorphia, /daɪˌdɛlfɨˈmɔrfiə/) make up the largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, including 103 or more species in 19 genera. They are also commonly called possums, though that term technically refers to Australian fauna of the suborder Phalangeriformes. The Virginia opossum was the first animal to be named an opossum; usage of the name was published in 1610. The word opossum was borrowed from the Virginia Algonquian (Powhattan) language in the form aposoum and ultimately derives from the Proto-Algonquian word *wa˙p- aʔθemw, meaning "white dog" or "white beast/animal".Opossums probably diverged from the basic South American marsupials in the late Cretaceous or early Paleocene.
Oregon Ridge Park
Spotted on Oct 14, 2012
Submitted on Oct 19, 2012
2 Comments
and...very nice spotting :)
"tlacuache" in spanish, derived from the nahuatl prehispanic language. The tail of this species was considered as medicinal and its represented in antique codex (prehispanic and colonial documents), women used the tail of these animals in the moment of child birth to aleviate contractions.