opossum: The American one.
possum: Could refer to either kind of animal.
Failing to acknowledge that it's like that in reality will only cause further confusion.
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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possum: Could refer to either kind of animal.
Yeah, in the US calling an opossum a 'possum' is just the shortened slang name and everyone know what you are talking about.
I like to think they're saying 'possum so there's no confusion when written
No, they're saying "a possum"
They are. You are correct
Gold star
Yea, seems like the distinction is a scientific one, not a language one.
Still interesting, I had no idea.
it would have been wise to label which one is which?
(left one is opossum, right one is possum)
Can someone add a banana for size? Because I think one is much bigger than the other
hope this helps
Until right now I thought they were just different spellings of a word that meant the same thing. Like “color” and “colour”.
They absolutely are, in that the species from America got shortened from "opossum" to "possum" (with both versions still in use), and then the similar-looking Australasian animals were given the same abbreviated name.
They are the Oppossite of one another
This article is not a good source.
- Possums are not native to China or new Zealand. Australia is correct but they can also be native to New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.
- Certain species of possums like the ringtail can have partially hairless tails.
- When comparing to Australia's most common possum (Brushtail, max 4.5kg), the Virginia opossum is bulkier but has roughly the same body length. The largest possum (Bear Cuscus is nearly twice as big)
- Sources vary but it's clear there are significantly more opossum species than possum species.Possums species are much more distinct though.
They’re two completely different species. The one with the O is North American, and the other is Australian. They only got the same name because people are lazy.
they are closely related, both being marsupials. i just read it up on wikipedia
"course fur"
Before AI I could just chalk it up to an intern writer or something. Now I don't know.
Chalk it up to the American education system
That's fur from school, duh
One has a Japanese honorific prefix and the other does not.
Opassan
okay
I had no idea.
Not happy with all the anti-possum ads on that page. Opossums are beneficial good creatures, just leave em be.
They’re practically harmless. Scary as shit if you have one get stuck in you shed, but they do more good than armadillos.
possums are native to Australia, New Zealand, and China.
God DAMN they must be good swimmers
Edit: Occam's razor. The article is misinformation, and they're just native in Australia
Wow. The one is in black and white, the other in color.
possums were introduced after the invention of the 3-channel RGB system.
Wow. The one is in black and white, the other in ~~color~~ sepia.
O
One is Irish.
The main difference is that people commonly refer to opossums as possums, but rarely the other way 'round.