AnAge entry for Didelphis marsupialis

Classification (HAGRID: 02819)
Taxonomy	Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry) Order: Didelphimorphia Family: Didelphidae Genus: Didelphis
Species	Didelphis marsupialis
Common name	Southern opossum
Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits
Maximum longevity	4.2 years (captivity)
Source	ref. 671
Sample size	small
Data quality	acceptable
Observations	Although there are anecdotal reports suggesting a longer lifespan in captivity, the longest-lived specimen was a 4.2 year old at Rotterdam Zoo [0671].
Life history traits (averages)
Female sexual maturity	178 days
Male sexual maturity	240 days
Gestation	12 days
Weaning	94 days
Litter size	6 (viviparous)
Litters per year	2
Inter-litter interval	200 days
Weight at birth	0.2 g
Weight at weaning	96 g
Adult weight	1,530 g
Postnatal growth rate
Maximum longevity residual	28 %
Metabolism
Typical body temperature	308ºK or 35.0ºC or 95.0ºF
Basal metabolic rate	3.3100 W
Body mass	1244.3 g
Metabolic rate per body mass	0.002660 W/g
References
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World [0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology [0420] White and Seymour (2003), Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass2/3, PubMed [0522] Fisher et al. (2001), The ecological basis of life history variation in marsupials [0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
External resources
Integrated Taxonomic Information System	ITIS 552536
Animal Diversity Web	ADW account
Encyclopedia of Life	Search EOL
Genome Project	Search NCBI
Entrez	Search all databases Entrez Taxonomy search
Ageing literature	Search Google Scholar Search PubMed Search Scirus
Images	Google Image search
Internet	Search Google

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