Kingdom Animalia Infraclass Marsupialia Family Didelphidae Scientific name Didelphis aurita Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Didelphimorphia Subfamily Didelphinae Higher classification Large american opossums | |
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Similar Large american opossums, Opossum, White‑eared opossum, Mammal, Marsupial | ||
The big-eared opossum (Didelphis aurita) also known as a saruê is an opossum species from South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
This species, which was considered a population of the common opossum (D. marsupialis) for some time, was originally described as D. azarae by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824, but this name was incorrectly given to the white-eared opossum (D. albiventris) for over 160 years. As such, the name azarae has been abandoned.
References
Big-eared opossum Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA