The opossum is an animal native to the American continent, which is known by this name mainly in Mexico, but in other regions it is called "possum". It is a mammalian animal of the marsupial group and is grouped in the Didelphidae family, where there are about 90 species. Its distribution is quite wide, since it goes from North to South America, and in this article on our site we will focus precisely on this.
Keep reading and discover with us where the opossum lives and what it needs to live.
Opossum Distribution
Didelphidae corresponds to the largest family of marsupials in the Americas, so its distribution range is also quite wide, including from Canada to ArgentinaHowever, depending on the species, it can be present in a wide range of regions or be more concentrated in others.
Let's learn, below, some examples of the specific distribution of different opossum species:
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
It is present in North and Central America, with a distribution that includes Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States. It is the species that has reached the furthest north and can be from sea level to 3,000 meters.
Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis)
Also called "possum of the south", it has a wide distribution that includes, among other countries, Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Paraguay and Argentina. It can live up to 2,000 meters high approximately.
Central American Woolly Opossum (Caluromys derbianus)
It is distributed from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, to the south in Colombia and Ecuador. It lives from sea level to approximately 2,600 meters above sea level.
Western woolly possum (Caluromys lanatus)
This species is native to the south, with a distribution that includes Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. The upper height limit is around 2,600 m.a.s.l.
Black-shouldered possum (Caluromysiops irrupta)
It is present only in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The maximum height at which it is found is 700 m.a.s.l.
Water Opossum (Chironectes minimus)
is found around 1 800 masl. Some of the countries where this opossum lives are Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
Andean white-eared opossum (Didelphis pernigra)
It is present in the Andean mountain range, which includes Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. It lives from 2,000 to about 3,700 m.a.s.l.
Patagonian Opossum (Lestodelphys halli)
It is endemic to Argentina, specifically to Patagonia.
Opossum Habitat
As we have seen, the distribution of this marsupial is wide, being present in different regions, which have a wide range of ecosystems. Let's get to know the different habitats of the opossum:
Virginia Opossum
This species of opossum lives in a variety of habitats, which can be from semi-arid spaces to those with abundant vegetation. However, opt for humid places, such as forests and scrub areas with nearby watercourses and swamps.
Its omnivorous and opportunistic feeding has allowed it to be a successful species, which is why it also thrives very well in urban areas, fragmented habitats, occupying abandoned dens of other animals, various types of buildings and cavities of the trees.
Common Opossum
The habitats include the tropical jungle, subtropical forests, secondary type forests and even humanized spaces, although it has some sensitivity to disturbances of these places. The places where it cannot live correspond to arid and high- altitude ecosystems.
Central American Woolly Opossum
It lives mainly in woody areas, which can be evergreen or deciduous, dry forests, urban areas and cultivated areas.
Western Woolly Opossum
It is a mainly arboreal species, which inhabits lowland humid primary and secondary forests, also disturbed and gallery with watercourses. Also, it can be in plantations.
Black-shouldered Possum
Inhabits rain forests, humid forests and bamboo forests. It is almost exclusively arboreal, so it is rarely seen in the middle or lower levels.
Water Opossum
It is a semi-aquatic species that lives in spaces with permanent and generally clear watercourses. It is mainly in habitats with vegetative cover, but can reach disturbed places and with different types of plantations. It builds its burrows above the water level, but enters it through holes that are on the shore.
Andean white-eared opossum
It is distributed through a variability of habitats, since it is a highly mobile species. It can live in different types of forests, croplands, disturbed areas, open spaces, and urban areas.
Patagonian Opossum
Being endemic to Patagonia, it lives in grasslands lacking trees and dry bushes, in temperate to cold conditions and is restricted to the ecosystems of the area.
What does the opossum need to live?
These animals are considered successful due to their flexibility in terms of the type of habitat they can live in, but also because of the wide-ranging diet they eat. In this sense, in general, opossums need food to live, ranging from various types of animals to plants and even human food waste,water and spaces where they can make their dens , which are usually separated from those of the males and females. Their shelters can be built in trees, cavities in the vegetation or underground, although they can also occupy abandoned nests, depending mainly on the species.
In this sense, the opossum is a fairly flexible animal and the limitations to live may be present in some particular species, but in general it adapts to the conditions of the environment.
Keep learning about this mysterious animal and learn about the different types of possums.
