Distant Short-Tailed Opossum "Cousins"

North American Opossum & Sugar Gliders

By Molly Kalafut

	Gray Short-Tailed Opossum Monodelphis domestica South America	Virginia Opossum Didelphis virginiana United States, Canada	Sugar Glider Petaurus breviceps Australia
Kingdom	Animalia	Animalia	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata	Chordata	Chordata
Subphylum	Vertebrata	Vertebrata	Vertebrata
Class	Mammalia	Mammalia	Mammalia
Superorder	Marsupialia	Marsupialia	Marsupialia
Order	Didelphimorphia	Didelphimorphia	Diprodontia
Family	Didelphidae	Didelphidae	Petauridae
Genus	Monodelphis	Didelphis	Petaurus
Species	domestica	virginiana	breviceps

This table shows how distantly related short-tailed opossums are to the North American opossum and sugar gliders.
The bold items are categories shared with short-tailed opossums.

Many people confuse gray short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica) with the large opossum (Didelphis virginiana) found in the wild in the USA and Canada. Some people confuse the care for STO with care for sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps) because they are close in size and both are marsupials. However, STO are only distantly related to them.

The Virginia opossum is about 25+ times larger than STO. They can reach up to 13 pounds while STO are less than 1/2 pound. STO and Virginia opossums are both nocturnal, solitary and nomadic though their dietary needs are different. Virginia opossums raise their young in a pouch while STO do not. Virginia opossums "play possum" and seem dead to confuse predators, but STO do not. Their temperature and climate needs are different. Virginia opossums survive throughout the United States and Canada while STO cannot survive prolonged temperatures under 60-70 degrees.

Sugar gliders are separated from STO by about 70 million years and 2 continents. Sugar gliders are called "possums" only because they look like South American "opossums" - not due to any physical or biological relationship. Their nutritional requirements are very different. For example, STO do not eat nectar, sap, acacia gum, eucalyptus, manna and "honeydew" from sap-sucking insects the way sugar gliders do. A sugar glider diet should not be used to primarily feed STO. It is in fact easier to provide a proper diet for STO in captivity than sugar gliders. Sugar gliders are very social creatures and are often kept in pairs, while STO are antagonistic towards each other and should be kept singly.

STO care, health, nutrition, breeding and raising young are different from the North American opossum and Australian marsupials and should not be used interchangeably. If you are looking for rescue or rehabilitation information about opossums you found in the wild in the USA or Canada, you have a Virginia opossum (not STO) and need to contact the National Opossum Society which provides rescue information.

For More Information

For more information about Virginia Opossums: National Opossum Society

For more information about Sugar Gliders: Intl Sugar Glider Association

For more information about Short-Tailed Opossums: Know Your STO

Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007 Know Your STO by Molly Kalafut - a book about the South American gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica)
Send mail to info@knowyoursto.com with questions or comments about STO.
Last modified: 05-Mar-2007