Translations:AY Honors/Animal Tracking/Answer Key/28/en

Opossum

{{Animal sign | latin_name =Didelphis virginiana | common_name =Opossum | animal_image =AwesomePossum-AmericanOpossum.jpg | animal_caption = | track_image = Opossum and vole tracks in mud.JPG | track_caption = Track
(courtesy Lensim) | scat_image = | scat_caption = | range = | description = Opossums are small to medium-sized marsupials, with the largest about the size of a large house cat, and the smallest the size of a mouse. They tend to be semi-arboreal omnivores, although there are many exceptions. They have a plantigrade stance (feet flat on the ground) and the hind feet have an opposable digit with no claw.

Virginia Opossum tracks generally show five finger-like toes in both the fore and hind prints. The hind tracks are unusual and distinctive due to the opossum's opposable thumb, which generally prints at an angle of 90 degrees or greater to the other fingers (sometimes near 180 degrees). Individual adult tracks generally measure 1⅞ inches long by 2 inches wide (4.8 × 5.1 cm) for the fore prints and 2½ inches long by 2¼ inches wide (6.4 × 5.7 cm) for the hind prints. Opossums have claws on all fingers fore and hind except on the two thumbs (in the photograph, claw marks show as small holes just beyond the tip of each finger); these generally show in the tracks but may not. In a soft medium, such as the mud in this photograph, the foot pads will clearly show (these are the deep, darker areas where the fingers and toes meet the rest of the hand or foot, which have been filled with plant debris by wind due to the advanced age of the tracks).