MammalBase - Accepted taxon: Didelphis virginiana

Accepted taxon: Didelphis virginiana
Taxon:	Didelphis virginiana
Rank:	Species
Higher Classification:	DIDELPHIMORPHIA \| Didelphidae \| Didelphinae \| Didelphis
Reference:	Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005.

Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Didelphis virginiana diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 7, ASH (Ash contents) 8, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 24, CP (Crude Protein) 49, EE (Ether Extract) 13. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 1. List of Diet Items for Didelphis virginiana.
TSN Complete name	Part	Ratio ^a.	Reference(s)
Vertebrata	WHOLE	24.76	Damuth, J…
Insecta	WHOLE	21.27	Grzimek,B…
Magnoliopsida	FRUIT	19.37	Grzimek,B…
Arthropoda	WHOLE	13.33	Damuth, J…
Vertebrata	CARRION	8.25	Damuth, J…
Vertebrata	EGGS	6.35	Grzimek,B…
Magnoliopsida	LEAF	3.33	Hume,ID, …
Magnoliopsida	SHOOT	3.33	Damuth, J…

^a. Standardized values. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Didelphis virginiana.
Trait	Selected Value	All Value(s)	Reference(s)
Temporal habits	nocturnal	nocturnal	– Rodrigo A. Medellin, 1994, 'Mammal Diversity and Conservation in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico', Conservation Biology, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 780-799
Locomotion: Eisenberg 1981	Scansonal	Scansonal	– Rodrigo A. Medellin, 1994, 'Mammal Diversity and Conservation in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico', Conservation Biology, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 780-799, Weisbecker, V., Beck, R., Guillerme, T., Harrington, A., Lange-Hodgson, L., Lee, M., Mardon, K., Phillips, M. 2023. Multiple modes of inference reveal less phylogenetic signal in marsupial basicranial shape compared with the rest of the cranium. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 378(1880), pp.None. Available at: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0085.
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981	Frugivore-omnivore	Frugivore-omnivore	– Rodrigo A. Medellin, 1994, 'Mammal Diversity and Conservation in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico', Conservation Biology, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 780-799
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009	Frugivore	Animalivore, Frugivore	– Rodrigo A. Medellin, 1994, 'Mammal Diversity and Conservation in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico', Conservation Biology, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 780-799, Weisbecker, V., Beck, R., Guillerme, T., Harrington, A., Lange-Hodgson, L., Lee, M., Mardon, K., Phillips, M. 2023. Multiple modes of inference reveal less phylogenetic signal in marsupial basicranial shape compared with the rest of the cranium. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 378(1880), pp.None. Available at: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0085.

Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Didelphis virginiana.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	9	9	-	-	-	2,225.98	-	-	Engelman,…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	300	-	6,400	-	Freudenth…
Head-Body Length (HBL)	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	476	-	-	Engelman,…
Occipital condyle width (OCW)	nan	mm	9	9	-	-	-	16.74	-	-	Engelman,…

Table 4. List of other Measurements ^b. for Didelphis virginiana.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
brainmass	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	7	-	-	Engelman,…
skull_length	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	103	-	-	Engelman,…
femur circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	26	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	27	-	-	Nelson, A…
neck length	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	48	-	-	Nelson, A…
BMR,mlO2/h	nan	mlO2/h	3	3	-	-	-	646	-	-	Genoud, M…
BMR,mlO2/h	nan	mlO2/h	3	3	-	-	-	1,075	-	-	Genoud, M…

^b. other Measurements. Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..

Table 5. List of Data Sources for Didelphis virginiana.
Taxon	Reference	Match	Status
Didelphis virginiana	Hume,ID, 2005, Nutrition of marsupials in captivity, International Zoo Yearbook	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	MedellÃƒÂn,R. A., 1994, Mammal diversity and conservation in the Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico, Conservation Biology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Weisbecker, V., Beck, R.M., Guillerme, T., Harrington, A.R., Lange-Hodgson, L., Lee, M.S., Mardon, K. and Phillips, M.J., 2023. Multiple modes of inference reveal less phylogenetic signal in marsupial basicranial shape compared with the rest of the cranium. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 378(1880), p.20220085.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Engelman, R.K., 2022. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC biology, 20(1), p.37.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	DeMers, A.C., 2023. Functional Significance of the Mandible, Tooth Roots, and Tooth Crowns, and their Implications for Fossil Dietary Inference (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Genoud, M., Isler, K. and Martin, R.D., 2018. Comparative analyses of basal rate of metabolism in mammals: data selection does matter. Biological Reviews, 93(1), pp.404-438.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Freudenthal, M. and Martín-Suárez, E., 2013. Estimating body mass of fossil rodents. Scripta Geologica, 145, pp.1-513.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Didelphis virginiana	Rowan, J., Beaudrot, L., Franklin, J., Reed, K.E., Smail, I.E., Zamora, A. and Kamilar, J.M., 2020. Geographically divergent evolutionary and ecological legacies shape mammal biodiversity in the global tropics and subtropics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(3), pp.1559-1565.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted

Citation for this page: [The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864 Didelphis virginiana , Accessed 30th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/4679]