The opossum - a marsupial in North America? How did they get here?

were they brought over from Australia?





I thought these things were only native to Australia.





Thanks for helping me solve this question.The opossum - a marsupial in North America? How did they get here?
Virginia Opossums are native to North America. They are North America's only remaining marsupial. Originally North America had lots of marsupials, but as these animals evolved, they moved on to placental development. Opossums have not evolved much at all. Their evolution has been greatly hampered by their sexual organs (males have 2 penises), which prevented them from breeding with other marsupials of their time.


Opossums actually are quite unique, not only are they the only marsupial in N. America but...


1) They are the only non-primate with an opposable thumb (it's on their hind feet).


2)They have more teeth than any other land mammal (they have the same number of teeth as killer whales).


3) Their brain is so small and under-developed that it can't support the rabies virus (basically they are immune to it).


4) Their average life span is 2 years and 3 1/2 is max.


5) Playing dead is an involuntary response caused by a chemical released when they are stressed (think: fainting goats). The chemical actually causes their heart rate and breathing to slow down so much that they are virtually undetectable.


6) Their eyesight is so poor, that they are virtually blind. They rely on their nose to find food.


7) They have a prehensile tail, but they can not support their own body weight with it (they can't hang up side down). They mostly use it for balance and to carry bedding.


8) They are one of nature's best garbage disposers. They will eat basically anything they come across including fruit, vegatables, meat, insects, seeds and nuts. They don't care if its fresh or rotten, they will eat it all (hence why we find them in our garbage cans).The opossum - a marsupial in North America? How did they get here?
Millions of years ago when the formation of the continents were different, Australia, Antarctica, and South America were all connected, so were able to live on that land mass including what would break off as South America, which eventually connected to North America after getting isolated from the other continents.
Marsupials used to be global. Opossums are the only group of marsupials left outside of Australia, which has been isolated for 70 million years. South America used to have a large variety of marsupials in the Paleocene (65 to 55 million years ago), but placental mammals out competed them.
someone thought they were cute and imported them, just like the starlings birds, also not native here, and now a nuisence. like rabbits to Austrailia.

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