There are 70 species in America. Possums are about the size of a big cat. They can weigh 9 - 13 pounds. They have coarse bushy hair. Their ears are grey and bare and they have a long nose, called a snout.
Possums have very keen hearing.
The mouth has a row of small, triangular, needle sharp teeth, placed close together. Look carefully at the picture of this possum. It has a long tail, with no hair on it. It can grip tree branches with its tail and can even hang upside down, like the possum in the Nature Walk exhibit at the Museum. Monkeys also have prehensile tails.