AMERICAN OPOSSUMS. 113 
range from the United States to Patagonia, the nimiber ot* 
species being greatest in the more tropical parts. They are 
characterized externally by their slender build, long noses, 
well-developed prehensile tails, and above all by their hind-feet 
being provided with a great toe, which, as already stated, is 
opposed to the other toes, and enables the animal to grasp 
boughs or other objects ; it is without nail or claw, and has 
only a broad, flat, fleshy pad at its tip. Of the Dulelphyuhr 
Pi O'. 61. 
An American Opossum {Didelphi/s dorsigera) with its young. 
the most worthy of mention is the ( ^ommon Opossum, Didelphys 
marsupialis ( 1458 ), a native of all the countries from the United 
States to Brazil, and everywhere found in great abundance. It 
is of the size of a Cat, and feeds on all sorts of animal and 
vegetable substances, living even in towns, where it acts as a 
natural scavenger. Other South-Ainerican species are smaller, 
some little larger than a Mouse. The females carry their 
young on the back (fig. 61, No. 1450 ), the latter using their 
prehensile tails by twisting them round that of their mother, 
I 
