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Didelphimorphia

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Description

The opossum (or ) is a marsupial of the order Didelphimorphia endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 103 or more species in 19 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of the two continents. Their unspecialized biology, flexible diet, and reproductive habits make them successful colonizers and survivors in diverse locations and conditions.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didelphimorphia, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	783	https://www.gbif.org/species/783
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	67664	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=67664

Rank

order

Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Didelphimorphia

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Synapsida	Osborn 1903
-	Therapsida
infraorder	Cynodontia
-	Epicynodontia	Hopson and Kitching 2001
infraorder	Eucynodontia	Kemp 1982
-	Probainognathia	Hopson 1990
-	Mammaliamorpha	Rowe 1988
-	Mammaliaformes	Rowe 1988
class	Mammalia	Linnaeus 1758
-	Theriamorpha
-	Theriiformes
-	Trechnotheria	McKenna 1975
-	Cladotheria	McKenna 1975
-	Boreosphenida
subclass	Theria	Parker and Haswell 1897
subclass	Metatheria
-	Marsupialia
order	Didelphimorphia	Gill 1872

Scientific Name

Didelphimorphia

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Ameridelphia	stated with evidence	Springer et al., 1994
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Ameridelphia	stated without evidence	de Muizon and Cifelli, 2001
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Ameridelphia	stated with evidence	Davis, 2007
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Marsupialia	stated without evidence	Goin et al., 2007
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Marsupialia	stated with evidence	Goin et al., 2009
Didelphimorphia	order	belongs to Marsupialia	stated without evidence	Oliveira and Goin, 2011

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

204

Extant Size (PBDB)

78 (38%)

First Recorded Appearance

105 - 94 Ma
Cretaceous

Environment

terrestrial (based on Mammalia)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

omnivore (based on Marsupialia)

Reproduction

viviparous (based on Theria)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, R. L. Cifelli, and Z.-X. Luo. 2004. Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: Origins, evolution, and structure. Columbia University Press, New York

Common Name(s)

American Opossums, American Marsupials, Marsupials, Cuica, Didelfimorfo, Gambá, Marsupial, Mucura

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didelphimorphia

External Images

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Didelphoidea superfamily	listed (PBDB)		3	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Pediomyoidea ✝ superfamily	listed (PBDB)		39	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	33.9 Ma Oligocene
Peradectoidea superfamily	listed (PBDB)
Alphadontidae ✝ family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		206	101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	56.0 Ma Paleocene
Aquiladelphidae ✝ family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		10	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	70.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Derorhynchidae ✝ family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		24	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	41.3 Ma Eocene
Didelphidae family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	Opossum	279	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Peradectidae family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		443	89.8 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	0 Ma Extant
Protodidelphidae family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		13	59.0 Ma Paleocene	47.8 Ma Eocene
Sparassocynidae family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	9.00 Ma Miocene	0 Ma Extant
Stagodontidae ✝ family	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		126	105 Ma Early/Lower Cretaceous	58.7 Ma Paleocene
Aenigmadelphys ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Apistodon ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		3	85.8 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Ghamidtherium ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	38.0 Ma Eocene	38.0 Ma Eocene
Iqualadelphis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		5	86.3 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Szalinia ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Varalphadon ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		14	101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	83.5 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous
Caluronmys lanatus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1821	Pedimanes Gray p. 308
1872	Didelphimorphia Gill
1894	Pedimana Ameghino p. 103
1897	Pedimana Ameghino p. 501
1990	Peradectia Marshall et al. p. 480
1994	Didelphimorphia Springer et al. p. 86
2001	Didelphimorphia Phillips et al. p. 1538
2001	Didelphimorphia de Muizon and Cifelli p. 88

Year	Name and Author
2004	Didelphimorphia Case et al. p. 234
2004	Didelphimorphia Kielan-Jaworowska et al. pp. 443, 452-453
2007	Didelphimorphia Davis p. 225
2007	Didelphimorphia Goin et al.
2009	Didelphimorphia Goin et al.
2009	Didelphimorphia Horovitz et al. p. 6
2011	Didelphimorphia Oliveira and Goin
2012	Didelphimorphia Rose et al.

References

Kielan-Jaworowska Z., Cifelli R. L., et al (2004) Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: Origins, evolution, and structure, Columbia University Press, New York, 1-630

Gray J. E. On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals, The London Medical Repository Monthly Journal and Review 15, 296-310

Ameghino F. Enumeration synoptique des especes de mammifères fossiles des formations éocènes de Patagonie, Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Cordoba (Republica Argentina) 13, 259-452

Ameghino F. Mammiféres crétacés de l’Argentine (Deuxième contribution à la connaissance de la fauna mammalogique de couches à Pyrotherium) [Cretaceous mammals of Argentina (second contribution to the knowledge of the mammalian fauna of the Pyrotherium Beds)], Boletin Instituto Geografico Argentino 18 4–9, 406-521

Springer M. S. Y., Westerman M., et al (1994) Relationships among orders and families of marsupials based on 12S ribosomal DNA sequences and the timing of the marsupial radiation, Journal of Mammalian Evolution 2 2, 85-115

Phillips M. J., Lin Y.-H., et al (2001) Mitochondrial genomes of a bandicoot and a brushtail possum confirm the monophyly of australidelphian marsupials, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 268, 1533-1538

de Muizon C., Cifelli R. L. (2001) A new basal "didelphoid" (Marsupialia, Mammalia) from the early Paleocene of Tiupampa (Bolivia), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21 1, 87-97

Case J. A., Goin F. J., et al (2004) South American marsupials from the Late Cretaceous of North America and the origin of marsupial cohorts, Journal of Mammalian Evolution 11 3/4, 223-255

Davis B. M. (2007) A revision of “pediomyid” marsupials from the Late Cretaceous of North America, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 2, 217-256

Goin F., Abello A., et al (2007) Los Metatheria sudamericanos de comienzos del Neógeno (Mioceno Temprano, Edad-mamífero Colhuehuapense). Parte I: Introducción, Didelphimorphia y Sparassodonta, Ameghiniana 44 1, 29-71

Goin F. J., Candela A. M., et al (2009) Earliest South American paucituberculatans and their significance in the understanding of ‘pseudodiprotodont’ marsupial radiations, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155, 867-884

Horovitz I., Martin T., et al (2009) Cranial anatomy of the earliest marsupials and the origin of opossums, PLoS One 4 12, e8278. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008278

Oliveira E. V., Goin F. J. (2011) A reassessment of bunodont metatherians from the Paleogene of Itaborai (Brazil): Systematics and the age of the Itaborian SALMA, Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 14 2, 105-136

Rose K. D., Chew A. E., et al (2012) Earliest Eocene mammalian fauna from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum at Sand Creek Divide, southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 36, 1-122

Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds., 2005: null. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 3rd ed., vols. 1 & 2. 2142. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds., 1992: null. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, 2nd ed., 3rd printing. xviii + 1207. - via Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

McKenna, M. C.; Bell, S. K. (1997). Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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