THE ANIMAL FILES

Common opossum

Didelphis marsupialis

A forest forager can make use of a surprising number of hiding places.

The common opossum is a marsupial of tropical and subtropical America, not another name for every opossum. It often searches on the ground after dark, but trees remain part of its life: they can offer both routes to explore and cavities to sleep in. Its flexible menu helps connect these different settings.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Common opossum
Image: Rabipelao.jpg: Juan Tello derivative work: WolfmanSF (talk) · Commons · CC BY 2.0
Active time
Mainly nocturnal[1]
Shelter
Tree cavities and other dark sites[1]
Food range
Invertebrates, small vertebrates, fruit and carrion[1]

A shelter is more than one kind of home

Tropical and subtropical forests provide habitat, including both primary and secondary forest. A hollow tree is a common nest site, but the species can also use a burrow or another dark place. This flexibility helps explain why finding an opossum near a building need not mean it has abandoned all forest-associated behaviour: it is using a different available shelter.[1]

Mostly on the ground, not confined to it

Most activity occurs at night and much of it is terrestrial, with some climbing and arboreal nesting. Outside mating, individuals are generally solitary. The balance between travelling and staying nearby also varies: breeding females use more stationary ranges than roaming males. A single nighttime sighting captures only a small part of how an individual uses its surroundings.[1]

An adaptable dinner search

Insects, earthworms, small vertebrates, fruit, nectar and carrion can all enter the diet. In towns, compost and discarded food may become additional opportunities. A broad diet does not make every encounter with human waste beneficial; it simply explains why a generalist forager can discover food in a changed landscape as well as within a forest.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Is the common opossum strictly a tree-dweller?

No. It can climb and use arboreal shelters, but much of its nocturnal activity and feeding takes place on the ground.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why could a tree cavity and a dark building recess attract the same species?

Reveal the explanation

Both can supply the dark shelter this adaptable species uses. Different structures can meet a similar behavioural need.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Didelphis marsupialis (adapted and translated; exact revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Didelphis marsupialis (identity and game lineage)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

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