What Are the Differences Between Male and Female Opossums?

The opossum is a marsupial, an animal that bears live but immature young and carries them in a pouch as part of the gestation period. The opossum is one of the few marsupials in North America. It is a solitary animal that is omnivorous but prefers to feed on carrion. The opossum moves from place to place to find food. Most mammal species have specific visual characteristics that distinguish the males from the females, and opossums are no exception.

  1. Sexual Characteristics of Male and Female Opossums

    • Like a kangaroo, an opossum mother carries its babies in a pouch

      The main difference between male and female opossums is that the different sexes have different reproductive organs. The female opossum has a uterus and a marsupium, or pouch. Unlike true placental mammals, she has a very simple placenta and relies on her pouch and teats to grow the babies after they leave the uterus. The male opossum has a penis that he uses to fertilize the eggs in the female opossum.

    Body Size

    • In many mammals, the male animals have characteristics that allow them to compete for dominance with other males so that they can reproduce with the female opossums. The male opossum has a larger body size than the female. He is also a lot heavier than a female opossum. However, it is not possible to determine an opossum's sex by body size alone, since you may simply have a large, healthy female opossum.

    Facial Features

    • Like a dog, a male opossum has strong canine teeth.

      Tough, sturdy teeth are an important part of defending territory and looking for a mate. The male opossum has canine teeth that are much larger than the canine teeth of the female opossum. While the male has better teeth, the female has a more pronounced sense of smell than the male opossum. Female opossums can recognize the scent of individual males on the items that the males touched.

    Sound

    • The opossum has a very short lifespan for a mammal. A typical opossum lives between two and four years. To get to age four, an opossum needs to use its teeth and defensive mechanisms to survive. When male opossums are threatened, they growl. Females also growl, but they do not growl as loudly, deeply or as often as the males. Opossums also have a very short reproductive cycle so that they can produce the next generation in less than a month. Male opossums also make a smacking noise as they search for a mate. They initiate this noise and the females may repeat it to show that they are interested in reproducing.