| Revision as of 00:06, 30 July 2004 edit155.91.19.73 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 04:52, 21 August 2021 edit undoMalnadachBot (talk | contribs)11,637,095 editsm Fixed Lint errors in signatures. (Task 2)Tag: AWB | ||
| (32 intermediate revisions by 23 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| ==Explanation== | |||
| ] | |||
| This is old page history that used to be at the title "opossum". ''']'''] 15:59, 20 December 2009 (UTC) | |||
| The word '''opossum''' (usually pronounced without the leading 'O', or with only a very slight ]) refers either to the ] in particular, or more generally to any of the other ] of ] ]. Opossums are the only marsupials in North America. | |||
| The name is from ] ''wapathemwa'', not ] or ], so the plural is ''opossums'', not ''opossa''. | |||
| Opossums have a rat-like hairless tail, 50 teeth, and opposable thumbs on their rear limbs. Though some humans are fond of them, many consider them to be rather ugly. | |||
| A wild opossum's diet includes bugs (including cockroaches), snails, mice and rats, but, like ], opposums can be found in urban environments, where they eat pet food, rotten fruit, and various human garbage. Opossums are nocturnal. | |||
| Opossums in captivity are known to engage in canibalism, though this is probably uncommon in the wild. | |||
| The ] is noted for its reaction to threat, which is to feign death. This is called "playing (o)possum". This should not be taken as an indication of docility. Under serious threat, a possum will respond ferociously. | |||
| Though ''opossum'' is often pronounced, and even spelled ''possum'', the latter word actually refers to various distantly related but broadly similar ]s of magnorder ], that are native to ] and are an introduced pest in ]. See ]. | |||
| See also: ] | |||
Latest revision as of 04:52, 21 August 2021
Explanation
This is old page history that used to be at the title "opossum". Graham87 15:59, 20 December 2009 (UTC)