It is hard to guess what a Common opossum weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) on average weights 1.14 kg (2.52 lbs).
The Common opossum is from the family Didelphidae (genus: Didelphis). They can live for up to 2.67 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 40.2 cm (1′ 4″). On average, Common opossums can have babies 2 times per year with a litter size of 7.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), also called the southern or black-eared opossum or gambá, and sometimes called a possum, is a marsupial species living from the northeast of Mexico to Bolivia (reaching the coast of the South Pacific Ocean to the central coast of Peru), including the Lesser Antilles, where it is called manicou. It prefers the woods, but can also live in fields and cities.The common opossum is sometimes used by humans for food on islands in the West Indies.
Animals of the same family as a Common opossum
We found other animals of the Didelphidae family:
- Mexican mouse opossum with a weight of 49 grams
- Patagonian opossum with a weight of 78 grams
- Dusky slender opossum with a weight of 46 grams
- Chacoan pygmy opossum with a size of 8.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- White-bellied slender opossum with a weight of 34 grams
- Anderson’s four-eyed opossum with a weight of 324 grams
- Pinheiro’s slender opossum with a size of 10.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Water opossum with a weight of 977 grams
- Black-shouldered opossum with a weight of 258 grams
- White-eared opossum bringing 1.03 kilos (2.27 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Common opossum
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Didelphis marsupialis:
- Herbert River ringtail possum with a weight of 1.1 kilos (2.43 lbs)
- Small-toothed sportive lemur bringing 955 grams to the scale
- Philippine flying lemur with a weight of 1.25 kilos (2.76 lbs)
- Spotted linsang with a weight of 1.14 kilos (2.51 lbs)
- Tres Marias rabbit bringing 964 grams to the scale
- Hispaniolan hutia with a weight of 1.27 kilos (2.8 lbs)
- Herbert River ringtail possum with a weight of 1.1 kilos (2.43 lbs)
- Black flying squirrel with a weight of 1.19 kilos (2.62 lbs)
- Eastern woolly lemur with a weight of 1.06 kilos (2.34 lbs)
- Sunda flying lemur with a weight of 1.11 kilos (2.45 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Common opossum
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Common opossum:
- Spotted giant flying squirrel with a size of 39.8 cm (1′ 4″)
- Northern common cuscus with a size of 42.4 cm (1′ 5″)
- African savanna hare with a size of 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Malagasy civet with a size of 45.7 cm (1′ 6″)
- White-cheeked spider monkey with a size of 46 cm (1′ 7″)
- Western quoll with a size of 34.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Patagonian weasel with a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- Gilbert’s potoroo with a size of 34.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Yellow-spotted rock hyrax with a size of 46.9 cm (1′ 7″)
- Short-tailed mongoose with a size of 41.5 cm (1′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Common opossum
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (7) as a Common opossum:
- Yellow steppe lemming
- Laxmann’s shrew
- Drylands vesper mouse
- Long-tailed planigale
- Sakhalin vole
- Lesser bandicoot rat
- Little ground squirrel
- Southern multimammate mouse
- Stripe-faced dunnart
- Prairie shrew
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Common opossum
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Common opossum:
- Southern bog lemming with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Narrow-nosed planigale with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Ooldea dunnart with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Merriam’s pocket mouse with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- Golden mouse with an average maximal age of 2.5 years
- South African pouched mouse with an average maximal age of 2.75 years
- McIlhenny’s four-eyed opossum with an average maximal age of 2.25 years
- Brown antechinus with an average maximal age of 3 years
- Northern quoll with an average maximal age of 2.83 years
- Silky anteater with an average maximal age of 2.25 years