For those who don't already know, the opossum is pronounced "possum" and North America's Virginia opossum is found in other states besides Virginia.

The Virginia opossum is the only American opossum found in North America, with the remaining 62 species of American opossums occurring in Central and South America.

I have no clue why it is called the "Virginia" opossum rather than the "State College opossum" or some other name.

Until recently, the American opossums were considered marsupials, like kangaroos and koala bears from Australia.

The Virginia opossum is a grayish, cat-sized mammal with a long, relatively hairless, and prehensile (meaning it can hang from its tail).

Many of us have driven down a country road or looked out into our backyard at dusk to see a lumbering, slow-moving gray animal that we recognized as a Virginia opossum.

As colder weather approaches, the opossum may stay in its den (vacant burrow, under a porch, or a hollow log) for several days, and live off a stored layer of body fat rather than hibernating.

The Virginia opossum has a pouch it uses to raise its young. It has a gestation period, the amount of time in which the young grow within the female's body, of only 12-13 days.

Compared to the body weight of the mother, young Virginia opossums are very small at birth.

After climbing to the pouch soon after birth, the young remain within the pouch for about two months and later travel on the back of the mother for another month.

So, what is the term given by scientists for a lazy opossum?

-- A pouch potato!

The opossum's appearance, its ability to feign death by playing possum, and the fact that it has a pouch give us the impression that this mammal is a relict species of some earlier age.

Indeed, historically, opossums and marsupials (collectively referred to as metatherians) have been viewed as inferior and primitive relative to more familiar animals, like raccoons and foxes. One major difference between metatherians and other mammals is that the metatherians have more than 44 teeth whereas other mammals have less than that.

The Virginia opossum has 50 teeth, and humans have 32 teeth.

For a variety of reasons, our Virginia opossum should not be viewed as a living fossil or second-class citizen.

In fact, it is a relatively new species, having evolved only about two million years ago from a species known as the common opossum, which can still be found in a region expanding from eastern Mexico to northern Argentina.

The Virginia opossum evolved much later than the great apes and ancestors of early humans!

Moreover, based on some learning and discrimination tests, some scientists go as far as to contend that the intelligence of Virginia opossums is higher than that of dogs and equal to pigs.

From an ecological perspective, we have to look far and wide to find a more successful mammal than the Virginia opossum.

It feeds on a variety of foods from plants and animals and occurs in habitats ranging from forest to farmland.

Prior to European settlement in North America, the northern range of the Virginia opossum extended only into Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Today, this opossum has extended its range throughout the eastern United States because of human activities and introductions.

The northern limit of Virginia opossums will most likely be restricted to about the border of the United States and Canada because of cold temperatures and excessive snowfall.

If you take away anything about the Virginia opossum, know that it is the sole survivor of ancestral metatherians that once occurred throughout much of North America.

Even elephants occurred at one time in North America -- so what happened when the Virginia opossum crossed historically with the elephant? -- it created big holes all over our continent!

It's no joke, however that this interesting mammal is by no means primitive or on the verge of extinction. Instead, it represents one of the most successful mammals in Pennsylvania in terms of abundance, distribution, and adaptability.