Skunk is the popular name used to refer to some species of marsupials in the Didelphidae family. Opossums are mammalian animals that resemble mice and stand out for having a long hairless tail, which they use to climb. These animals are nocturnal and solitary and have an omnivorous diet, which includes small vertebrates, invertebrates and fruits.
Since they are marsupial animals, the development of the young is completed in pouches called marsupium, as it happens with kangaroos and koalas. When threatened, skunks can show their teeth or play dead.
Read more: Classification of Mammals — the subclass Theria encompasses the marsupials
skunk summary
Opossums are marsupial animals, as are koalas and kangaroos.
They resemble mice, but they are not rodents.
They have long tails, which help them to climb trees.
Are animals solitary and nocturnal.
They are omnivorous animals that feed on different foods, such as small vertebrates, invertebrates and fruits.
When they feel threatened, they can play dead.
skunk characteristics
Gambá is a popular name used for the different species gives Didelphidae family. Are marsupial animals, which indicates that your calf ends up developing in pouches called baby carriers, just like koalas and kangaroos. The term possum is derived from Tupi-Guarani and means “open womb”, a reference to the baby carrier.
Opossums physically resemble large mice, but are not rodents. They have a hairless tail, which the animal uses to climb trees or buildings. The size of skunks varies a lot depending on the species studied, sex and place where it lives. In general, they can be between 40 cm and 50 cm in length. They have a thick neck, short limbs and an elongated, pointed snout.
Opossums have forelimbs with sharp nails and hind feet with opposable toes, which helps them in climbing. it's about animals loners, nomads, arboreal or terrestrial and which generally have nocturnal habits. During the day, skunks are usually observed sleeping in holes, such as hollows in tree trunks.
the possums are well-adapted to anthropic environments, which means that they often have contact with human beings. Often, this animal causes damage, and it is common to observe it, for example, in electrical energy installations and house linings.
To defend themselves, skunks usually make a characteristic sound and open their mouths to show their teeth. In general, these animals do not attack. In addition to showing their teeth and making sounds, skunks can delete the content intestinal, with an odorous secretionfwas from the anal gland, or playing dead. The Virginia opossum, for example, when sensing danger, opens its mouth, sticks its tongue out and excretes unpleasant-smelling fluids, which it ends up pushing away. predators.
It is worth noting that skunks are confused with another animal species, popularly called skunk. The animal with black fur and large white stripes on its back, known mainly for squirting a foul-smelling liquid when threatened, is actually belonging to another family, the Mephitidae family, thus not being a skunk. Opossums also eliminate odor, and this scent is used to attract mates, to mark territory and as a defense mechanism, but it does not cause discomfort like that released by the skunk.
Read more: Mole — another animal that looks like, but is not, a rodent
possum feeding
skunks are animals omnivores, feeding, for example, on invertebrates such as insects and scorpions; small vertebrates such as baby birds and snakes; fruits; eggs; carrion; and even garbage. They are animals of great ecological importance, since they act in pest control and seed dispersal.
skunk breeding
possums are animals mammals of the marsupial group. This means that they have a kind of bag, called a marsupium, in which the young finish their development. THE opossum gestation is short, lasting about 13 days.
After this period in the uterus, the puppy moves towards the baby carrier, in which it will attach itself to the nipple and receive the food it needs to continue its development. To reach the mammary glands in the baby carrier, the pups climb on the mother's fur. When they are more developed, they come out of the pouch and cling to the mother's back until they are completely independent.
These animals have great reproductive capacity, being able to have up to two litters per year, each one with about 12 puppies.
Video lesson about mammals
possum species
There are different species of possum, and it is possible to find these animals also in national territory. In Brazil, the white-eared skunks and the black-eared skunks deserve to be highlighted.
Black-eared Opossum (Didelphis aurita): also called saruê and seringuê, this animal is observed in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. The species stands out for its large, black, hairless ears. The dorsal region has two layers of fur, an inner layer with light colored hairs and an outer layer with longer black or gray hairs. The ventral region has a light color. It is an omnivorous species, but, in some situations, a particularly frugivorous diet is observed, with the diet being directly related to the availability of food. It is considered a species pollinator and disperser. These skunks are immune to the venom of snakes like jararaca and rattlesnake.
White-eared Opossum (Didelphis albiventris): also known as mucura, possum, saruê, timbú or fox, this possum can be observed throughout the national territory, mainly in the wetland, Caatinga and thick. The ears are light in color, and the body color is gray, with two layers of hair, the lower one with light hair and the upper one with black and thick hair. On the head you can see three black stripes, one central and two over the eyes. It feeds on eggs, small vertebrates, invertebrates, fruits and seeds. Like the black-eared opossum, it is immune to the venom of some snakes.
