TIL the difference between Possums and Opossums

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https://www.bobvila.com/articles/possum-vs-opossum/

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it would have been wise to label which one is which?

(left one is opossum, right one is possum)

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Can someone add a banana for size? Because I think one is much bigger than the other

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hope this helps

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opossum: The American one.

possum: Could refer to either kind of animal.

Failing to acknowledge that it’s like that in reality will only cause further confusion.

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possum: Could refer to either kind of animal.

Yeah, in the US calling an opossum a ‘possum’ is just the shortened slang name and everyone know what you are talking about.

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I like to think they’re saying ‘possum so there’s no confusion when written

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No, they’re saying “a possum”

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They are. You are correct

Gold star

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Yea, seems like the distinction is a scientific one, not a language one.

Still interesting, I had no idea.

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Until right now I thought they were just different spellings of a word that meant the same thing. Like “color” and “colour”.

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They absolutely are, in that the species from America got shortened from “opossum” to “possum” (with both versions still in use), and then the similar-looking Australasian animals were given the same abbreviated name.

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This article is not a good source.

  1. Possums are not native to China or new Zealand. Australia is correct but they can also be native to New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.
  2. Certain species of possums like the ringtail can have partially hairless tails.
  3. When comparing to Australia’s most common possum (Brushtail, max 4.5kg), the Virginia opossum is bulkier but has roughly the same body length. The largest possum (Bear Cuscus is nearly twice as big)
  4. Sources vary but it’s clear there are significantly more opossum species than possum species.Possums species are much more distinct though.
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Found the possum person

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One has a Japanese honorific prefix and the other does not.

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Not happy with all the anti-possum ads on that page. Opossums are beneficial good creatures, just leave em be.

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They’re practically harmless. Scary as shit if you have one get stuck in you shed, but they do more good than armadillos.

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possums are native to Australia, New Zealand, and China.

God DAMN they must be good swimmers

Edit: Occam’s razor. The article is misinformation, and they’re just native in Australia

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They are the Oppossite of one another

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Herr’s a handy video to explain the difference. Too bad I can never remember anything said.

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“course fur”

Before AI I could just chalk it up to an intern writer or something. Now I don’t know.

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That’s fur from school, duh

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OP

Chalk it up to the American education system

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They’re two completely different species. The one with the O is North American, and the other is Australian. They only got the same name because people are lazy.

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they are closely related, both being marsupials. i just read it up on wikipedia

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Wow. The one is in black and white, the other in color.

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possums were introduced after the invention of the 3-channel RGB system.

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Wow. The one is in black and white, the other in color sepia.

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Deleted by author

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I just shared some stuff on this tick business today, including some analysis of the erroneous study that started the whole misconception.

Opossums are still awesome, they just aren’t tick munchers.

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went ahead and just deleted my original comment. i got 3 people commenting about it so I’ll just say I think they’re neat.

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I hope you didn’t take it personally! 😮

I just want people to be informed. My story and moreso the linked article I added talks about some of the issues that even positive seeming misinformation can lead to.

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all good. i got 3 comments all at once so I just figured it was for the best.

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Heck, even I didn’t know it was false until I found the post! I’m surprised I saw a couple others mention it. The rumor is really widespread.

We feed ours dried mealworms as part of their diet, so I just assumed they eat whatever bugs.

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i now know that they don’t eat many ticks, I was just excited cause I love opposums and I think they get a fairly bad reputation for being “vermin”.

i didn’t realize an article about them not eating ticks was posted today. i don’t think I’m on the instance that shared that.

i guess that’s why all the comments focused on the ticks thing.

i just think they’re neat.

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Continue thread

I think that the tick thing has ended up being a myth. There’s this link I found real quick but I don’t remember where I saw it originally.

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I read the tick eating thing is an urban legend.

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comment has been removed. apologies.

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The main difference is that people commonly refer to opossums as possums, but rarely the other way ’round.

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Comments in Mildly Interesting@lemmy.world

TIL

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me2. I thought it was one of those things where there were just two terms and maybe one was more correct.

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Little weird that this is on PBS home improvement presenter Bob Vila’s website.

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Tldr; their name is basically the same, their face is basically the same, but the rest is different.

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I just assumed Opossums were Irish.

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I actually don’t think this is totally accurate. Possum is an alternate pronunciation/spelling of opossum. According to this thinly sourced Wikipedia article:

The common name “possum” for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures’ resemblance to the opossums of the Americas… However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos.

Can anyone confirm this one way or the other?

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It actually touches on that in the article.

Even Merriam-Webster notes that both names colloquially refer to the Virginia opossum present in North America and that the word “opossum” can be pronounced with its first syllable voiced or silent. Both possums and opossums have a flexible diet and eat various plants and animal matter scavenged from their surroundings. Despite these similarities, however, possums and opossums are, in fact, different animals.

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Yes, I know that’s what it says in this article, but I don’t think it’s correct. Merriam Webster actually says not only that opossum can be pronounced without the O, but it can also be spelled without the O. The two words are interchangeable according to Merriam Webster.

Edit: In other words, one definition of possum is opossum and vice versa.

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Either way it’ll leave you with two different animals. Why make it extra confusing and spell their names the same?

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