Opossums: An Adaptive Radiation of New World Marsupials

327 Pages·2021·19.333 MB·English

by  Robert S. Voss and Sharon A. Jansa

Opossums
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Opossums
An Adaptive Radiation of New World Marsupials
Robert S. Voss and Sharon A. Jansa
Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2021 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2021
Printed in the United States of Ameri ca on acid- free paper
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Voss, Robert S., author. | Jansa, Sharon A., author.
Title: Opossums : an adaptive radiation of new world marsupials /
Robert S. Voss and Sharon A. Jansa.
Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020013111 | ISBN 9781421439785 (hardcover) |
ISBN 9781421439792 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Opossums.
Classification: LCC QL737.M34 V67 2021 | DDC 599.2/76—d c23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020013111
A cata log rec ord for this book is available from the British Library.
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information, please contact Special Sales at [email protected].
Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book
materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least
30  percent post- consumer waste, whenever pos si ble.
For Louise Emmons
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Contents
Acknowle dgments ix
Introduction 1
I phylogen et ic context and
historical biogeography
1 Metatheria and Marsupialia 7
2 South Amer ic a, the Island Continent 14
3 The G reat American Biotic Interchange and Its Aftermath 21
II opossum classification and diversity
4 Taxonomic Accounts 29
III opossum phenotypes
5 Morphology 67
6 Physiology 101
7 Be hav ior 121
IV opossum natu ral history
8 Habitats 137
9 Diets 153
10 Parasites 169
11 Predators 186
12 Competitors and Mutualists 195
13 Population Biology 211
viii Contents
V synthesis
14 Adaptive Radiation 229
Appendixes
1. A Checklist of Living Opossums (Didelphidae) 241
2. Fruit Taxa Eaten by Opossums in French Guiana 245
3. Prey Taxa Eaten by Opossums in Southeastern Brazil 247
References 249
Index 303
Acknowle dgments
We are very fortunate in having colleagues who w ere willing to read early drafts
of our chapters and suggest improvements. In par tic u lar, we are grateful to Robin
Beck for reading Chapters 1, 2, and 3; to Vera Weisbecker for reading Chapter 5;
to Christine Cooper and John Harder for reading Chapter 6; to Harry Greene for
reading Chapters 9 and 11; to Lance Durden, Agustín Jiménez, and Jessica Light
for reading Chapter 10; and to Gregory Adler for reading Chapters 8, 12, and 13.
Any remaining errors of fact, interpretation, or emphasis are, of course, our own.
Patricia J. Wynne drew all the line art for this volume with her customary skill,
attention to detail, and inimitable style. Photographic material was made available
by friends, colleagues, and freelance photog raphers whose generosity we gratefully
acknowledge, whether or not we fi nally used their images for this volume: Víctor
Acosta- Chaves, Antoine Baglan, Eduardo Beltrocco, Gerardo Ceballos, Rodrigo
Conte, Mónica Díaz, Louise Emmons, Antoine Fouquet, Elí García- Padilla, Mario
Gómez- Martínez, Roland Kays, Jorge La Grotteria, José Martínez, José Ochoa,
Ricardo Ojeda, Pedro Peloso, Darío Podestá, Fiona Reid, Rogério Rossi, Thiago
Semedo, Thiago da Silveira, Pablo Teta, and Christian Ziegler. Rights to reproduce
the image in Figure 11.1 w ere purchased from Superstock, Inc.
Patricia Wynne’s drawings of opossum manual osteology (Fig. 5.10) are based
on micro- CT scans expertly pro cessed by Abigail Curtis for a grant proposal that
was never funded. We thank Kelly Kroft for photographing the microfilariae
(Fig. 10.1) in a blood smear that was originally prepared by Kevin Olival, and we
thank Agustín Jiménez for identifying adult worms from the body cavity of the
same specimen. We are grateful to Craig Chesek for photographing the opossum
skin in Fig. 4.10. Jan Ryser very kindly sent us a copy of his 1990 doctoral disser-
tation on Didelphis.
Our decades- long research on opossums would have been far less productive
without many substantial contributions from our students, including especially
Juan Díaz- Nieto, Tom Giarla, Eliecer Gutiérrez, and Silvia Pavan. Lorissa Fujishin
and Carmen Martin helped generate much of the sequence data on which our