• History & Biology
  • Habitat and Range
  • Nutrition and Diet
• Development & Physiology
  • Genetics
  • Eyesight
  • Temperature Regulation
  • Morphology
• Captive Care
• Parasites
  • General Parasites
  • Nematodes
  • Besnoitia
  • Other Parasites
• Mothers & Babies
  • Gestation
  • Neonates
  • Milk Analysis and Study
  • Maternal Behavior
  • Female Health and Reproduction
• Diseases
  • Bacterial Endocarditis
  • Cancer
  • Spesis
  • EPM
  • Heavy Metals
  • Other Health Issues
• Immunology
• Other Studies
  • Anti-Venom
  • Intellect
  • Defense Mechanism
  • EPM
• Other Species
  • General Care
  • Armadillos
  • Bats

Article Navigation

• History & Biology
  • Habitat and Range
  • Nutrition and Diet
• Development & Physiology
  • Genetics
  • Eyesight
  • Temperature Regulation
  • Morphology
• Captive Care
• Parasites
  • General Parasites
  • Nematodes
  • Besnoitia
  • Other Parasites
• Mothers & Babies
  • Gestation
  • Neonates
  • Milk Analysis and Study
  • Maternal Behavior
  • Female Health and Reproduction
• Diseases
  • Bacterial Endocarditis
  • Cancer
  • Spesis
  • EPM
  • Heavy Metals
  • Other Health Issues
• Immunology
• Other Studies
  • Anti-Venom
  • Intellect
  • Defense Mechanism
  • EPM
• Other Species
  • General Care
  • Armadillos
  • Bats

Resources For Rehabbers

Research papers for fellow rehabilitators
Unless otherwise noted, all are concerning
Didelphis Virginiana

Many thanks to those who helped contribute to this ever-growing knowledge base

Opossum Natural History and Biology

• 
  Handbook to the marsupialia
  
• 
  A good overview from Animal Diversity Web
  
• 
  Retarded senescence in an insular population of Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  

• 
  Dr Krause’s The Opossum
  
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  The biology of the opossum, Didelphis virginiana, in souther central Pennsylvania
  
• 
  Virginia Opossums: from BioKIDS
  

Habitat and Range

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  Influences of an Urban Environment on Home Range and Body Mass of Virginia Opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  
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  Ecology of the Opossum in Eastern Texas
  
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  Movement, Habitat Use and Denning of Opossums in the Georgia Piedmont
  
• 
  Movement Patterns and Home Range in the Common Opossum (Didelphis Marsupialis)
  
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  Density dependence or climatic variation? Factors influencing survival, recruitment, and population growth rate of Virginia opossums
  
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  Contemporary range expansion of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) impacted by humans and snow cover
  
• 
  Distributional Records of the Opossum in Ontario
  
• 
  Food and Dens of the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in Northeastern Kansas
  
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  Niche shift by the Virginia opossums following reduction of a putative competitor, the raccoon
  
• 
  A Radiotelemetric Study of Spatial Relationships in the Opossum
  
• 
  Habitat Dynamics of the Virginia Opossum in a Highly Urban Landscape
  
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  Density dependence or climatic variation? Factors influencing survival, recruitment, and population growth rate of Virginia opossums
  
• 
  Landscape Associations of Road killed Virginia Opossums
  
• 
  Nest-Building Behavior of the Brazilian Bare-Tailed Opossum, Monodelphis domestica
  

Nutrition and Diet

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  The Food of the Opossum in New York State
  
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  Opossum weight gain graph
  
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  Dietary Patterns of the Virginia Opossum in an Urban Environment
  
• 
  Postmortem scavenging by the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana): Impact on taphonomic assemblages and progression
  
• 
  Ectoparasites and food habits of the opossum, Didelphis virginiana, in Indiana
  
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  Energy metabloism of the Virginia Opossum during fasting and exercise
  

Development and Physiology

Development

• 
  The Pineal Region in the Opossum, Didelphis virginiana
  
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  Osteological Variation within the Baldwin County, Georgia, Population of Didelphis virginiana
  
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  The marsupial pouch: implications for reproductive success and mammalian evolution, Janine Deakin, 2013, Australian Journal of Zoology
  
• 
  A review of complementary mechanisms which protect the developing marsupial pouch young M.J. Edwards , L.A. Hinds, E.M. Deane , J.E. Deakin
  
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  Development of the immune system and immunological protection in marsupial pouch young
  
• 
  The Development of the Immune Tissues in Marsupial Pouch Young Casey R. Borthwick, Lauren J. Young, and Julie M. Old*
  
• 
  Haematopoesis in Marsupials, Julie M Old
  
• 
  Sequential order of appearance of ossification centers in the opossum Didelphis albiventris (Didelphidae) skeleton during development in the Marsupium
  
• 
  Development of the Digestive System in the North American Opossum Didelphis virginiana-)
  

Physiology

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  Seasonal Changes in the Physiology of Male Virginia Opossums ( Didelphis virginiana ): Signs of the Dasyurid Semelparity Syndrome?
  
• 
  Winter energetics of Virginia opossums Didelphis virginiana and implications for the species’ northern distributional limit
  
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  Mammary glands in male marsupials: I. Primordia in neonatal opossums Didelphis virginiana and Monodelphis domestic
  
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  Behavioral Aspects of Feigned Death in the Opossum Didelphis marsupialis
  
• 
  The Electrocardiogram of the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  

Genetics

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  A Genetic Analysis of the Virginia Opossum
  
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  Genetic structure of a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginia) population inhabiting a fragmented agricultural ecosystem
  
• 
  A Brown Mutation in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) with Remarks upon the Gray and the Black Phases in This Species
  

Eyesight

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  Study Of Visual Discrimination In The Opossum
  
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  Tooled for the Task: Vision in the Opossum
  
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  Cone pigments in a North American marsupial, the opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  

Temperature Regulation

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  The circadian rhythm of body temperature of unrestrained opossums, Didelphis Virginiana
  
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  Temperature Regulation in the Opossum, Didelphis Virginiana
  
• 
  The development of temperature regulation in the opossum, Didelphos marsupialis virginiana
  

Morphology

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  Limb posture and locomotion in the Virginia opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) and in other non-cursorial mammals
  
• 
  Central nervous system regeneration: from leech to opossum
  

Care of Captive Opossums

• 
  Opossum Normals (contact me for more specific and comparative results in chart form)
  
• 
  Simple method for locating a suitable venipuncture site on the tail of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  
• 
  Social Behavior in Captive Virginia Opossums, Didelphis virginiana
  

• 
  Practical Marsupial Medicine
  
• 
  Nutritional Considerations for Hand-Rearing Possums
  
• 
  Captive marsupial nutrition
  

Parasites

General Parasites

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  Opossum parasites-Nichelason 2008
  
• 
  Ectoparasites of the Virginia opossum Didelphis virginiana (Kentucky)
  
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  Helminths of the common opossum Didelphis marsupialis with a checklist of helminths parasitizing marsupials from Peru
  
• 
  Didelphis species and their parasites
  

• 
  Debunking the Opossum-as-tick-hoover theory
  
• 
  Why Metronidazole Is Active against both Bacteria and Parasites
  
• 
  Ectoparasites and food habits of the opossum, Didelphis virginiana, in Indiana
  

Nematodes (lung and stomach worms)

• 
  Opossum Nemotodiasis: Diagnosis and Treatment of Stomach, Intenstine and Lung Nematodes in the Virginia Opossum
  
• 
  Spontaneous Cure After Natural Infection with Gnathostoma turgidum in Virginia Opossums
  
• 
  A retrospective study of 11 cases of lungworm (Didelphostrongylus hayesi) infection in opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  
• 
  Pulmonary lesions caused by the lungworm (Didelphostrongylus) in the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in Colima, Mexico
  
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  The unique lungworms (Nematoda Metastrongyloidea) of the opossum
  
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  Evaluation of Cruzia americana, Turgida turgida, and Didelphostrongylus hayesi Infection in the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and Risk Factors along the California Coast
  
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  Prevalence, Acquisition, and Treatment of Didelphostrongylus hayesi (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) Infection in Opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  
• 
  Intrahepatic growth and maturation of Gnathostoma turgidum in the natural definitive opossum host, Didelphis virginiana
  
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  Turgida turgida Nematoda Physalopteridae parasitic infection
  

Besnoitia

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  Protozoal Disease in a California Opossum (Didelphis Virginia) Besnoitia darlingi
  
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  Prevalence and tissue distribution of Besnoitia darlingi cysts in the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in Michigan
  
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  Besnoitiasis in Indiana Opossums
  
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  Debilitation and mortality associated with Besnoititis
  
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  Concurrent Presence of Sarcocystis Neurona Sporocysts, Besnoitia Darlingi tissue cysts, and Sarcocystis Inghami Sarcocysts in a Naturally Infected Opossum
  

Other parasites

• 
  First molecular evidence of Toxoplasma gondii in opossums (Didelphis virginiana) from Yucatan, Mexico
  
• 
  Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis associated with rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) migration in two nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) and an opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in the southeastern United States
  
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  Sarcocystis inghami n. sp. (Sporozoa: Sarcocystidae) from the skeletalmuscles of the Virginia opossum Didelphis virginiana in Michigan
  

Mothers and Babies

• 
  Handbook to the marsupialia
  
• 
  A good overview from Animal Diversity Web
  
• 
  Retarded senescence in an insular population of Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  

• 
  Dr Krause’s The Opossum
  
• 
  The biology of the opossum, Didelphis Virginiana in south-central Pennsylvania
  
• 
  Virginia Opossums: from BioKIDS
  

Gestation

• 
  Placentation in the opossum
  
• 
  Gestation and Placentation in Two New World Opossums: Didelphis virginiana and Monodelphis domestica
  

Neonates

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  Ontogeny of Suckling Mechanisms in Opossums
  
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  General Observations on the Growth and Development of the Young Pouch Opossum
  

Milk Analysis and Study

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  Wallaby mothers have unconventional placentas
  
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  Milk Composition of the North American Opossum
  
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  Chemical analyses of American opossum milk
  
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  Opossum Milk Composition Values
  
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  Molecular conservation of marsupial and eutherian placentation and lactation
  
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  The Origin of Human Milk Bacteria: Is There a Bacterial Entero-Mammary Pathway during Late Pregnancy and Lactation?
  

Maternal Behavior

• 
  Maternal Denning Behavior and Survival of Juveniles in Opossums in Southeastern New York
  
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  Odors as cue for orientation to mother by weanling Virginia opossums
  

Female Health and Reproduction

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  Urinary Bladder incarceration and Infarction (due to fat pad)
  
• 
  The oestrus cycle in the opossum
  
• 
  The breeding season of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and the rate of intra-uterine and postnatal development
  
• 
  Sternal Odors as Cues for Social Discrimination by Female Virginia opossums, Didelphis virginiana
  
• 
  Reproductive Disorders of Marsupials
  

Diseases

Bacterial Endocarditis

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  Experimental Bacterial Endocarditis in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  
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  Experimental Bacterial Endocarditis in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana). II. Induction of Endocarditis with a Single Injection of Streptococcus viridans
  
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  Bacterial Clearance and Endocarditis in American Opossums
  
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  Bacterial Endocarditis, Glomerulonephritis, and Amyloidosis in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  

Cancer

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  Spontaneous Neoplasms in Captive Opossums
  
• 
  Cutaneous epithliotropic t-cell lymphoma with metasteses in a Virgnia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
  

Sepsis

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  Sepsis in Opossums
  
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  Characterization of erysipelothrix rhusiopathia isolated from an opossum with septicemia
  
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  Streptococcus didelphis sp. nov., a streptococcus with marked catalase activity isolated from opossums (Didelphis virginiana) with suppurative dermatitis and liver fibrosis
  

Heavy Metal Studies

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  Metal accumulation in wild-caught opossum
  
• 
  Heavy Metals in the Hair of Opossum From Palo Verde, Costa Rica
  
• 
  Comparative metal analysis in a species assemblage of mammals from the Southeastern United States
  

EPM

• 
  A review of Sarcocystis neurona and equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM)
  

Other Health Issues

• 
  Shedding light on rabies in opossums
  
• 
  Doube trouble- trauma and toxin in a Virginia opossum
  
• 
  Analysis of Enamel Hypoplasia in Opossums (Didelphis virginiana), Baldwin County, Georgia
  
• 
  Tetany in hand-rasied Brushtailed possums
  
• 
  Hypertension in the opossum Didelphis virginiana
  

Immunology

• 
  Immunological protection of the vulnerable marsupial pouch young: two periods of immune transfer during lactation in Trichosurus vulpecula (brushtail possum) Frances M. Adamski, Jerome Demmer*
  
• 
  Development of the immune system and immunological protection in marsupial pouch young
  
• 
  Marsupial immunology bounding ahead Katherine Belov, Robert D. Miller, Julie M. Old and Lauren J. Young
  
• 
  Acquired Immunity in Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) Embryos
  

• 
  Analysis of the expression of immunoglobulins throughout lactation suggests two periods of immune transfer in the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) Kerry A. Daly, Matthew Digby, Christophe Lefe`vre, Sonia Mailer
  

Other Studies

Antivenom of the Opossum

• 
  Resistence of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana) to envenomation by snakes of the family Crotalidae
  
• 
  Antivenom activity of opossum Didelphis
  
• 
  Neutralization of lethality and proteolytic activities of Malayan pit viper venom with North American Virginia opossum serum
  

Intellect

• 
  Food-rewarded operant learning in the opossum
  
• 
  Experimental maze learning in young opossums
  
• 
  An Experimental Analysis of Learning in the Opossum
  
• 
  Spatial Learning in South American Opossums and Armadillos
  

Defense Mechanism

• 
  An experimental study of the defense mechanism in the opossum
  

EPM

• 
  A review of Sarcocystis neurona and equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM)
  

Other Species

General Care

• 
  Easy to make RESCUE KIT for your car!
  
• 
  Emergency Guide to Stabilize and Care for Found Orphaned Squirrels
  
• 
  Why Wild Mammal Translocation (catch and release elsewhere) can be disastrous
  
• 
  What Free Ranging Animals Do at the Zoo
  
• 
  Herbal First Aid-Wound Care
  

Bats

• 
  The bat house builder’s handbook
  
• 
  Well-placed bat houses can attract bats to Central Valley farms
  
• 
  Effective Bat Houses for Florida
  

Armadillos

• 
  Guide to breeding armadillos in captivity
  
• 
  Clinical disorders in armadillos
  
• 
  Humans gave leprosy to the armadillos, now they are giving it back to us
  
• 
  Nine Banded armadillo fact sheet, very interesting!  from University of Georgia
  
• 
  Population ecology of the nine-banded armadillo in Florida
  
• 
  Translocation of nine-banded armadillos
  
• 
  Animal Diversity Web: Armadillos
  
• 
  Dasypus Novemcinctus- American Society of Mammalogists
  
• 
  Spatial Learning in South American Opossums and Armadillos
  
• 
  Metal accumulation in wild nine-banded armadillos
  
• 
  Eosinophilic meningoencephalitis associated with rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) migration in two nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) and an opossum (Didelphis virginiana) in the southeastern United States
  
• 
  Survey for Leprosy in Nine-banded Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) from the Southeastern United States
  
• 
  Zoonotic Leprosy in the Southeastern United States
  
• 
  Is leprosy spreading among nine-banded armadillos in the Southeastern United States?
  

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