The Water Opossum (Chironectes minimus), also locally known as the Yapok, is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae. It looks like mostly related with this family is the Originally native to the eastern United States, the Virginia Opossum which was intentionally introduced into the West during the Great depressoin probably as a source of food.
Two marsupials share the shortest gestation period. The Virginian opossum and the yapok (an unusual, rare water opossum) have a gestation period period of 12-13 days. Several sources cite the Eastern quoll of Australia as also having a gestation period of 12-13 days, but this is incorrect. The Eastern quoll's gestation period is 21 days. The longest known gestation period of any animal is that of the African elephant. Its gestation period averages 660 days but can extend to 760 days.
It is a fallacy that any mammal has a gestation period of 8 days. Two marsupials share the shortest gestation period. The Virginian opossum and the yapok (an unusual, rare water opossum) have a gestation period period of 12-13 days. Several sources cite the Eastern quoll of Australia as also having a gestation period of anywhere between 8 and 13 days, but this is incorrect. The Eastern quoll's gestation period is 20-24 days.
Marsupials give birth to relatively undeveloped young that continue to develop in a pouch, while placental mammals have young that fully develop within the mother's uterus connected by a placenta. Placental mammals have longer gestation periods and typically have more complex reproductive systems compared to marsupials.
The yapok is another term for the water opossum, Latin name Chironectes minimus, a marsupial found in Central and South America.
The yapok is another term for the water opossum, Latin name Chironectes minimus, a marsupial found in Central and South America.
* Yak * Yapok * Ynambu
The yapok is also known as the Water opossum.
The yapok is unusual because it's the only marsupial that lives in water. It has peculiar characteristics like webbed feet and water repellent fur.
Yapok (water opossum)Yellow-finned tunaYellowtail fishYosemite toad* Yapok (aquatic opossum) * Yellow-finned tuna * Yosemite toad
Only a number of opossums live in the Americas, most in South America. Click on this link for a complete list.
There are several species of marsupials in America, given that America covers North, Central and South America. In North America, there is only the Virginia opossum. In central America can be found a type of "water-possum", known as the Yapok. South America is the home of the Monito del Monte.
Yapok (aquatic opossum)Yellow-finned tunaYosemite toad
The animal is actually a water opossum, or yapok.The yapok is found in freshwater rivers, streams and lakes of Central and South America, from Mexico south to Argentina.
The Water Opossum (Chironectes minimus), also locally known as the Yapok, is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae. This creature is found in the freshwater streams and lakes in Mexico, Central and South America to Argentina, and is the only living aquatic marsupial. It spends its days in bank-side burrows and emerges after dark to swim and search for fish, crustaceans and other aquatic animals, which it eats on the bank. True opossums are unique to North America alone. The word "opossum" was taken from the native Algonquian word for the animal. Though the Yapok, as well as other marsupials in South America and Australia are called "possums," they are not closely related to the Virginia animal, and only derive their name by a generally similar shape and appearance. The Yapok is a small opossum, 10.6 to 12.8 inches long, with a 14.2 to 15.75 inch long tail. The fur is in a marbled gray and black pattern while the muzzle, eye stripe, and crown are all black. A light band runs across the forehead anterior to the ears, which are rounded and naked. There are sensory facial bristles in tufts above each eye as well as whiskers. The animal's tail, furred and black at the base, is yellow or white at its end. The hind feet of the Yapok are webbed, while the forefeet ("hands") are not. The Water Opossum has several adaptations for its watery lifestyle. It has short, dense fur which is water-repellent. The broad hind feet are webbed and are used for propulsion through water, moving with alternate strokes. They are symmetrical as well, which distributes force equally along both borders of the webbing; this increases the efficiency of the water opossum's movement through the water. Both males and females have pouches that open to the rear. The female uses her pouch to carry young, even while swimming. A strong ring of muscle makes the pouch watertight, protecting the young. Yapoks mate in December and a litter of 1-5 young is born 2 weeks later in the nest. By 22 days the offspring are beginning to show some fur, and by 40 days or so their eyes are open, their bodies protruding from the mother's pouch. At 48 days of age, the young opossums detach from the nipples but still nurse and sleep with the mother.
There are more than just one marsupial that does not live in Australia, but two of the best known are the Virginia Opossum and the Yapok.