Kingdom Animalia Order Didelphimorphia Phylum Chordata Rank Subfamily | Infraclass Marsupialia Scientific name Didelphinae Higher classification Didelphidae | |
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Mass Virginia opossum: 0.8 – 6.4 kg Lifespan Virginia opossum: 4 years, Common opossum: 2 years Lower classifications Large american opossums, Marmosa, Gray and black four‑eyed, Short‑tailed opossum, Thylamys | ||
The Didelphinae are a subfamily of opossums consisting of 15 genera and 98 species, one of them extinct. Specimens have been collected throughout the Americas, but are predominant in South and Central America.
Some sources call this subfamily the "American opossums", while others use that term for the whole family of opossums, Didelphidae. The term may be redundant, though, since all opossums are native to the Americas, while their distant Australian taxonomic relatives, in the suborder Phalangeriformes are referred to as possums in Australia.
Classification
References
Didelphinae Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA