THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. 
173 
suspect, however, it will prove to be specifically identical with 
the D. Azam. It is said to be 22 inches in total length, of 
which the body constitutes one-half; the ears are 2J inches 
in length. Compared with the Did. Virginiana , Dr. Lund 
observes, it differs in being of smaller size, in having the tail 
longer, the ears larger, and the abdomen white. 
DIDELPHYS CANCBIVORA. 
The Crab-eating Opossum. 
Didelphis cancrivora. Gmel. Linn. Syst. i. p. 108, sp. 7. 
“ marsupialis. Id. p. 105, sp. 1. 
“ cancrivora. Temminck, Monogr. de Maramalogie, tom. i. p. 32, 
PI. 5—skeleton. 
Fur long, loose, and rather glossy, of a dirty yellowish white 
colour next the skin, but with the visible portions of the 
hairs of a black or brown-black colour, and this dark hue is 
nearly uniform on all parts of the body: ears black; tail 
also black, with the exception of the apical half, which is 
white, or nearly so. 
Inhabits chiefly the northern parts of South America. 
The nearly uniform dark hue of this animal at once dis¬ 
tinguishes it from the other large species of Dtdelphys, to 
which it is nearly allied, such as the D. Virgiiiiana and 
D. Azam. In these two species the long hairs of the fur 
are white, whilst in D. cancrivora they are black at least 
the visible portions of these hairs, for they are whitish at the 
root. In size the Crab-eating.Opossum is rather inferior to 
the Common Opossum of North America, and its tail is 
proportionately longer than in that animal. 
