Possum

Possum
Der Fuchskusu ist eine der als Possums bezeichneten Tierarten

Als Possums werden eine Reihe von Beutelsäugern der Ordnung Diprotodontia aus dem australasischen Raum bezeichnet, namentlich ein Großteil oder auch alle Vertreter der Unterordnung Phalangeriformes. Der vorwiegend im Englischen verwendete Begriff taucht manchmal auch im Deutschen auf. Possums sind nicht mit den Opossums zu verwechseln, einer in Amerika beheimateten Gruppe von Beutelratten.

Unter anderem werden folgende Tiere als Possum bezeichnet:

Literatur

  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9.

Wikimedia Foundation.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Schlagen Sie auch in anderen Wörterbüchern nach:

  • Possum — Pos sum, n. [Shortened from opossum.] (Zo[ o]l.) An opossum. [Colloq. U. S.] [1913 Webster] {To play possum}, {To act possum}, to feign ignorance, indifference or inattention, with the intent to deceive; to dissemble; in allusion to the habit of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • possum — ► NOUN 1) a tree dwelling Australasian marsupial. 2) N. Amer. informal an opossum. ● play possum Cf. ↑play possum ORIGIN shortening of OPOSSUM(Cf. ↑opossum) …   English terms dictionary

  • possum — 1610s, shortened form of OPOSSUM (Cf. opossum). Phrase play possum is first recorded 1822 …   Etymology dictionary

  • possum — ☆ possum [päs′əm ] n. Informal OPOSSUM play possum to pretend to be asleep, dead, ill, unaware, etc.: an opossum may become motionless when endangered …   English World dictionary

  • Possum — Taxobox name = Possums image width = 240px image caption = Common Brushtail Possum ( Trichosurus vulpecula ) regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Mammalia infraclassis = Marsupialia ordo = Diprotodontia subordo = Phalangeriformes subordo …   Wikipedia

  • Possum — Opossum Nom vernaculaire ou nom normalisé ambigu : Le terme « Opossum » s applique, en français, à plusieurs taxons distincts. Opossum …   Wikipédia en Français

  • possum — /ˈpɒsəm / (say posuhm) noun 1. Also, Obsolete, opossum. any of many herbivorous, largely arboreal, Australian marsupials of the superfamily Phalangeroidea, especially of the genera Trichosurus, Pseudochirus and Petaurus, ranging in size from the… …  

  • possum — /pos euhm/, n. 1. opossum. 2. play possum, Informal. a. to feign sleep or death. b. to dissemble or pretend ignorance: The baseball broke the window, but the children played possum when asked who had thrown it. 3. Australian. any of various… …   Universalium

  • possum — stir the possum Deliberately cause controversy, especially in a public debate. The phrase was first recorded in 1900, but its origin is unknown. Some suggest it arose from a reversal of the American expression to play possum , which refers to the …   Australian idioms

  • possum — UK [ˈpɒs(ə)m] / US [ˈpɑsəm] noun [countable] Word forms possum : singular possum plural possums an opossum • play possum …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”