107 
GENUS DIDELPHIS. — Linn^us. 
DENTAL FORMULA. 
.10 1—1 7—7 6-6 
Incisive — ; Canine — ; Molar — or — =48 or 50. 
Head, long and conical ; muzzle, pointed ; ears, large, membraneous, 
rounded, and almost naked ; tongue, acculeated ; internal toe of the hind 
foot, opposable to the fingers, and destitute of a nail, pendactylous; nails, 
curved ; tail, long, scaly, and slightly covered with rigid hair ; stomach, 
simple. Female, with a pouch. 
The generic name is derived from the Greek, dis, twice or double, and 
delphis, a womb. 
The interesting group of the Marsupialia has recently been arranged 
by Owen into five tribes and families, and sixteen genera ; these include 
about seventy known species, to which additions are continually making ; 
the Virginian Opossum being, however, the only species known in 
America north of Mexico. Most of the other species of this genus (as 
at present restricted,) inhabit tropical America. It is composed of fifteen 
species, some of which are still doubtful. 
DIDELPfflS VmCJINIANA.— Shaw. 
Virginian Opossum. 
PLATE LXVI. Female, and Young Male seven months old. Natural size. 
D. pilis laneis basi albis, apice fuscis ; sericeis longis albis ; facie, 
rostro colloque pure albis ; auriculis nigris apice flavicantibus ; cauda 
corpore breviore basi pilosa tota albicante. 
characters. 
Hair soft and woolly, white near the roots, tipped with brown; the long 
hairs white and silky ; face near the snout, pure white ; ears, black ; base 
and margin, whitish ; tail, shorter than the body ; base, covered with 
whitish hair. 
