Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Virginia opossum FAMILY - Didelphidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Didelphis virginiana REFERENCES - 2, 3 and 14 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 6 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 4 District Reference Corozal 2 Orange Walk 2 Belize 2 Cayo 2 Stann Creek 2 Toledo 2 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve Collected as voucher Dry season 13 Slate Creek Preserve 11 Shipstern Nature Reserve Permanent 6 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 5 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 7 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Dry season 10 Chiquibul Forest Reserve 9 Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve 8 Gallon Jug Sighting 12 Community Baboon Sanctuary Collected as voucher March 13 Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve Collected as voucher March 13 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher March 13 Hydrologic Association Reference Cox's Lagoon 10 Raspaculo River 9 Belize River 13 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 13 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 13 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 11 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 7 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 7 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 10 18 15' to 18 30'; 88 00' to 88 15' 9 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 8 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 12 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 13 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 13 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Subtropical moist 13 Subtropical moist 13 Subtropical moist 13 General Distribution Comments 13* ROM Burrell Boom; Rockstone Pond. 7* Gold Button Ranch. 2* Specimen from Orange Walk. References 1 McCarthy, T. J. 1993. Checklist: Mammals of Belize. BAS Newsletter 25 (2-3). 2 Hall, E. R. 1981. Mammals of North America. Second ed. John Wiley & Sons. New York. 1:5-8 3 Wilson, D. E., D. M. Reeder. 1993. Mammal Species of the World, a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Second ed. Smithsonian Inst. p.17 4 Emmons, L. H. 1990. Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, a field guide. University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London. p.16 5 Jacobson, S. 1990. Wildlife Inventory of the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area. Parts I and II. Appendix 2. 6 Meerman, J. C. 1993. Mammals of the Shipstern Nature Reserve. Occasional Papers of the Belize Natural History Society. 2:11, pp.83-85 7 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 8 Clark, W. 1993. A contribution to the mammals of the Mountain Pine Ridge; Hidden Valley Inn, Cayo District, Belize, Central America. Unpub. report for WCS. pp.7-8 9 Rodgers, A.D.F.; D. A. Sutton, eds. 1991. Report of the Joint Services Scientific Expedition to the Upper Raspaculo. Unpub. report. pp. E-1-1 10 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.3-4 11 Meerman, J. C. 1994. Unpublished data, Slate Creek Preserve. 12 Miller, C.M., B.W. Miller. 1994 (Nov.). Working Checklist: Mammals of Gallon Jug and Chan Chich Lodge Area. Unpublished list. 13 ROM. 1995. Collections data from mammal department, Royal Ontario Museum. 14 McManus, J.J. 1974. Didelphis virginiana. Mammalian Species. No.40. pp.1-6. American Society of Mammalogists.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98