True Facts: Not-Dead Opossums and Their Weird Defenses

Go to to get a 30-day free trial 20% off their annual subscription. **Correction: only 1 species in US not in North America as a whole. merch: patreon: classical music: sponsor music: Credits: Dr Giancarlo Carli, University of Siena Dr William J. Krause, University of Missouri Dr Kenneth Jones, DVM Dr Carolin Dittrich, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Vincent Losasso Guanacaste Wildlife @Trailcampro Amphibiansunrise @Amphibiansunrise grbroussard @grbroussard Bubba’s Homestead @bubbashomestead Jennifer Burris @jenniferburris7789 Eddie Carter Critter Dex @critterdex5495 Colin Ewington Shawn Garvey International Animal Rescue @InternationalAnimalRescue Heindl Nature Preserve @HeindlNaturePreserve Houston Museum of Natural Science @houstonmuseum Mark Johnson Latest Sightings @Latestsightings Lost Pines Yaupon Tea @Lostpinesyaupontea_drinkme Mississippi Wildlife @MississippiWildlife North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences @ncnaturalsciences Reliably Random Outdoors @reliablyrandomoutdoors Bill Richards s34nVideos @s34nvideos Texas Backyard Wildlife @TexasBackyardWildlife The Trapper Guy Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal @urbanjunglewildliferemoval victorjvideos @victorjvideos Wild Education BC, Wild Midwest @Wild-Midwest Getty Images Shutterstock iStock Envato Asakura, M et al. (2022). Freezing or death feigning? Beetles selected for long death feigning showed different tactics against different predators. Ecology and Evolution. 12. Burnett WE, Heinze J. Sperm bundles in the seminal vesicles of sexually mature Lasius ant males. PLoS One. 2014 Mar 26;9(3):e93383. doi: Cardoso, D.C. et al. Death feigning in ants. Myrmecol. News 34: 45-56. 24 January 2024. doi: :045 Cassill DL, et al. Young fire ant workers feign death and survive aggressive neighbors. Naturwissenschaften. 2008 Jul;95(7):617-24. doi: Cook, L.E. et al. Postnatal development in a marsupial model, the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata; Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae). Commun Biol 4, 1028 (2021). Dittrich C, Rödel MO. Drop dead! Female mate avoidance in an explosively breeding frog. R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Oct 11;10(10):230742. doi: Janssenswillen S, Bossuyt F. Male Courtship Pheromones Induce Cloacal Gaping in Female Newts (Salamandridae). PLoS One. 2016 Jan 15;11(1):e0144985. doi: Hwang JY, et al. Molecular Evolution of CatSper in Mammals and Function of Sperm Hyperactivation in Gray Short-Tailed Opossum. Cells. 2021 Apr 29;10(5):1047. doi: Hwang, JY et al. (2021). Molecular Evolution of CatSper in Mammals and Function of Sperm Hyperactivation in Gray Short-Tailed Opossum. Cells. 10. 1047. Masaki, Sakai (Editor). Death-Feigning in Insects: Mechanism and Function of Tonic Immobility, Entomology Monographs, Mate KE et al. Timetable of in vivo embryonic development in the grey short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica). doi: Moore HD, Taggart DA. Sperm pairing in the opossum increases the efficiency of sperm movement in a viscous environment. doi: Morcillo I Soler P, et al. Bundle formation of sperm: Influence of environmental factors. doi: New DA et al. Growth of opossum embryos in vitro during organogenesis. J Embryol Exp Morphol. 1977 Oct;41:111-23. PMID: 591864. Nogueira, J.C. et al (1999). The penis morphology of Didelphis, Lutreolina, Metachirus and Caluromys (Marsupialia, Didelphidae). doi: Taggart DA et al. Why do spermatozoa of American marsupials form pairs? A clue from the analysis of sperm-pairing in the epididymis of the grey short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica. doi: Ulate Gómez, TN et al. (2024). Short communication: Problems of classifying predator-induced prey immobility – an unexpected case of post-contact freezing. Web Ecology. 24. 35-40. Zhang K, et al. Locomotion of bovine spermatozoa during the transition from individual cells to bundles. doi: