### animal | vertebrate | mammal:

Possum
* Most possums carry bacteria
* Most possums eat native snails
  - vegetation
* Most possums have dark fur
  - diets
  - eyes
  - thumbs
  - white fur
  - lead solitary life
  - live in trees
* Some possums become animals
  - harmless animals
  - wild animals
  - carry diseases
  - eat leaves
* Some possums have distribution
  - extensive distribution
  - pouches
  - surfaces
  - twins
  - live in hollows
* Some possums occupy ranges
  - stable home ranges.
  * are native to Australia and are protected there. Possums spend the first four months of their lives in their mother's pouch. By the time they are six months old, the young possums live outside the pouch
* acquire the disease by eating infected birds.
* also compete with adult birds for food and devastate trees by consuming new shoots
  - prey on nesting birds
* are New Zealand's number one introduced animal pest.
* are a nuisance in suburban gardens, and sometimes even indoors
  - protected native species in Australia
  - serious threat to biodiversity
  - about the size of a big cat
* are also a major vector of bovine tuberculosis, which they transmit to cattle and deer
  - notorious for fouling ceilings of houses and buildings
  - notoriously hard to kill, and they, well, play possum if they feel threatened
* are attracted by food left out for other animals
  - to yards and homes where food is plentiful
  - crafty, resourceful scavengers
  - flexible when it comes to breeding
  - found in the Western Hemisphere and play dead when cornered
  - furry marsupials that live in the trees of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands
  - herbivorous but thrive on a wide variety of vegetation
  - located in roads
  - nocturnal and eat small plants and flowers, and sometimes insects
  - nocturnal, which means they only come out at night and sleep during the day
  - omnivorous animals so possums naturally eat a variety of both plants and other animals
  - the only North American marsupials
  - usually solitary
  - very native to West Philadelphia
* browse on garden plants and have a reported liking for roses and other ornamental species.
* can become a nuisance by coming into homes looking for handouts
  - sneak onto the roof if tree branches or other tall plants are positioned nearby
  - take residency in attics, crawlspaces, under porches and near gardens
* communicate by sound and scent.
* compete with native birds for habitat and for food such as insects and berries.
* defend territory.
  - shrubs
* emerge from their dens after sunset and remain in the open for most of the night.
* feed on a variety of native and introduced vegetation.
  - large eyes as an adaptation to nocturnal vision
  - very keen hearing
* ignore old leaves and select the best new growth.
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - piluses
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - sterna
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
* lead life
* move at night and sleep during the day
  - through forests under cover of darkness, traveling between feeding and resting sites
* often drop chewed leaves.
* spend much of their time foraging for food and other den supplies
  - the first four months of their lives in their mother 's pouch

### animal | vertebrate | mammal | possum:

Ringtail possum
* Most ringtail possums have eyes.
* Some ringtail possums are classified as lists.
* Some ringtail possums have distribution
* Some ringtail possums occupy ranges
* build nests from tree branches and occasionally use tree hollows.
* gain much of their gross energy from reingestion.