420 
THE STORY OF THE OPOSSUM . 
The philander and the woolly opossum have a brown streak running down 
the middle of the face. 
The murine opossum which ranges from Central Mexico to- Brazil is no> 
larger than a common mouse, and wears a coat of soft red fur. It lives entirely 
upon insects. 
The water-opossum or yapock differs from all other members of the family 
in having the hind-toes webbed, and the presence of a large growth on the 
outer side of each fore-foot, giving the appearance of a sixth claw. This 
animal ranges from Guatemala to Brazil, and is distinguished by its peculiar 
color and love of water. The fur is short and close, and the long tail naked and 
scaly for the greater part of its length. The head and body measure about 
fourteen inches in length, and the tail about fifteen and a half inches. The 
ground-color of the fur is light gray, upon which there is a blackish brown 
stripe running down the middle of the back, and expanding into large blotches 
on the shoulders, the middle of the back, the loins, and rump. The face has 
also- blackish markings, with an imperfect whitish crescent above the eyes; 
while there is a certain amount of dark tint on the outer surfaces of the limbs, 
the under-parts being pure white. The female possesses a complete pouch. 
In habits the yapock closely resembles an otter, to- which group of animals it 
was,' indeed, referred by the earlier naturalists. Its food consists of small fish 
and other water animals. 
