For starters, opossums are noted for their "playing dead" defense system. When threatened, opossums have a chance to go into a state of tonic immobility, or playing dead, which can very last anywhere from a couple of minutes to a few hours.

This resistance is believed being due to the unique composition of your opossum's cells, which makes it complicated for that rabies virus to enter and replicate. This resistance to rabies is an interesting illustration of how the immune technique of opossums differs from that of other animals.

Rats are medium sized rodents belonging into the family often called Muridea. Possums are larger sized and belong for the marsupial order known as Didelphimorphia.

Being familiar with these distinctions can assist you accurately identify these fascinating creatures from the wild or in your own personal backyard.

Elizabeth Kennard, a biochemistry major who is usually pre-med, has worked over the project for 2 many years. Kennard grew to become aware about Werner's analysis whilst attending the Undergraduate Exploration Honest, and was grateful that Werner was willing to have a primary-yr university student sign up for the exploration staff. The function has also been a highlighted point on Kennard's clinical school applications.

If a possum seems in darkness, your dream hints at employing instinct in challenging times. In the event you’re silently observing within the aspiration, you’re a good listener.

That would help you save a great deal of lives. I think our peptide can fill that will need. It’s inexpensive and commonly soluble in saline. You may administer it with an EpiPen-style injector, or maybe even an inhaler.

“I observed my initial opossum 20 years back in Toronto,” claims MacDonald. “They ended up A great deal rarer back again then, but Increasingly more individuals have grow to be common with them in the last 5 years.

An opossum could hiss or growl if threatened, however, if predators continue on to advance, the opossum plays dead while emitting feces or simply a foul-smelling substance to ward them off. 

There, 8 mice that were here given a lethal dose of rattlesnake venom died overnight—but Yet another 8 mice that acquired venom along with the peptide all survived for weeks. Actually, we’ve carried out exactly the same experiment with other snakes’ venom, and also the treated mice live balanced, standard lives.

The possum’s ability to play dead mirrors the wisdom of preventing avoidable conflicts. Figure out how to navigate through problems with strategic silence when desired. Possums are skilled climbers; strive to your ambitions with tolerance and willpower.

female parental care pre-weaning/fledging provisioning female guarding female pre-independence safeguarding female Lifespan/Longevity

Also, opossums have a natural resistance to particular pests, for instance ticks. These marsupials have been discovered to have a substantial tolerance for tick bites without struggling from the diseases commonly transmitted by ticks, like Lyme disease.

Grab your lab coat. Let us get started Welcome! Welcome! Build an account down below for getting six C&EN content for each month, receive newsletters and more - all free. It appears This is often your to start with time logging in online. You should enter the following information to carry on. As an ACS member you quickly get entry to This website. All we'd like is couple of more details to build your reading through expertise.