Talk:Virginia opossum

message: RUIZ-PINA, Hugo A and CRUZ-REYES, Alejandro.  The opossum Didelphis virginiana as a synanthropic reservoir of Trypanosoma cruzi in Dzidzilché, Yucatán, México. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz. [online]. July 2002, vol.97, no.5 [cited 18 May 2005], p.613-620. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762002000500003&lng=en&nrm=iso>. ISSN 0074-0276.
"It is often seen near towns, rummaging through garbage cans, or dead by the side of the road." Aw jeez, is this the best that can be said about the poor beasties? Jquarry 06:26, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Dead link.  Try http://web.archive.org/web/20061211162129/http://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azopssum.html to get archive copy. Terry Carroll 20:25, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Additional info

message: I removed the statement "(the most among land mammals)that refered to its teeth, the numbat has 2 more teeth than the Virginia opossum.
Zantaggerung 16:26, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: teeth

message: Something about opossum origins in S. America while it was an island continent, and its being one of the very few successful reverse migrators (S to N) might be in order. --Wetman 06:15, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Origins

message: Especially as this common mode of death is thought important enough to be mentioned in the LEAD of the article! SBHarris 04:16, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Well, removing the roadkill opossum photo without explanation, was rude

message: Currently the "Range" section says that the animal was originally native to the eastern United States.
This needs some clarification. It was found in Mexico before colonisation, for instance.
Ordinary Person (talk) 08:40, 20 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Native to the eastern United States

message: It seems superfluous for the article leader to state that this animal is typically found in the road as a victim of roadkill.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 20.138.246.89 (talk) 14:19, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Roadkill 

message: Could we add this to the article?
Di: two + Delphus: womb. From Greek. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Didelphis#Translingual
</br> Moadeeb 17:36, 8 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Etymology 

message: The described feigned death reads well, but how about a reference or two? Dmccabe (talk) 02:04, 4 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: The main article on feigning death (linked to in this article) has a good number of references..granted, that article is not exclusively about possums, yet it does list in its lede 'playing possum' as one of the terms for the subject, and the main picture for that article is a picture of a possum....playing possum XD.  Firejuggler86 (talk) 10:23, 23 October 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Feigned death lack of references 

message: The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:
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Participate in the deletion discussion at the . —Community Tech bot (talk) 12:08, 15 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion 

message: Over at the opossum article, there's some controversy about whether the claim of 5000 ticks per year is accurate - see Opossum#Diet.
:Opossums are also notable for their ability to clean themselves of ticks, which they then eat. Some estimates suggest they can eliminate up to 5,000 ticks in a season. More recent research indicates the large consumption of ticks may not be true. 
That's not reflected in this article. Now, this is hardly my area of expertise so it would be helpful if someone who is closer to the subject could elaborate. Is this an ongoing controversy, or does the Hennessy & Hild paper put the "myth" to rest?  Mr. Swordfish (talk) 02:43, 4 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't know if the H&H sample size of n=32 opossum stomachs is considered conclusive. There are other studies that say they do consume them in large numbers. I think it is still an ongoing debate. Zofiax13 (talk) 23:26, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Eating all those ticks 

message: The general wiki page for opossums states that the word "opossum" is borrowed from Powhatan language and cites an article on North American language from Cambridge University. This wiki page for the Virginia opossum says the word originates in Algonquin language with the meaning "white animal", and credits the source as a book on mammals found in Florida. It's impossible for both to be true. The Powhatan origin is probably the correct one given the source material and the regions occupied by the Powhatan tribes (Virginia) compared to the Algonquin (typically more northern states and Canada), but clarification on this matter would be appreciated. Thank you. Zofiax13 (talk) 23:40, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Etymology 

message: Any source on them being so small as adults? Reference indicates a minimum of 1.9kg, not 11 ounces. LilyLitany (talk) 08:16, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I think that was a hoax. I've updated per the given reference, and removed the next uncited statement. UtherSRG (talk) 12:20, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Size reference? 

message: — Assignment last updated by Wildfern.27 (talk) 16:56, 21 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title: Wiki Education assignment: Principles of Biology 2