Ever seen a dead oppossum?

Question

Estaba conduciendo cuando vi a una zarigüeya aplastada en el camino. Yo me pregunté como se dice possum en espanol. Alli esta! que linda palabra.Que horrible fin.

Answer 1

Farallon says:

Those are slang terms used in certain places. The Real name is zarigüeya, and actually, in English, the proper name is "opossum" but most people call them "possum".

While that's accurate, the fact is that "rabipelado" is recognized by the DRAE, as a valid name for "zarigüeya".

Furthermore, here's what Wikipedia has to say about these critters:

El principal nombre común que reciben los didelfimorfos es el de zarigüeyas; además, son conocidos en El Salvador como tacuazines, en Guatemala como tacuacines, en México como tlacuaches o tacuaches, en Ecuador como guanchacas, en Honduras como guasalos, en el Perú como mucas o canchalucos, en Bolivia como carachupas, en Colombia como faras, chuchas, runchos o raposas, en Venezuela como rabipelados, faros o “zorros”, en Costa Rica, Panamá y algunas partes de México (como Yucatán) como “zorros”, y en Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia y Argentina como “comadrejas” overas, aunque estos dos últimos términos son equívocos, ya que comparten el nombre con mamíferos placentarios completamente diferentes.

So yes, there is a "standard" name in Spanish, which is zarigüeya, but is it is important to be aware of the regional name of things. If you go to Venezuela or Guatemala or Colombia and talk about "zarigüeyas", there is a chance people will not understand what animal you're talking about.

In English, opossum is close enough to "possum" that people are not likely to give you blank stares, but as you see, in Spanish people may use very different names to refer to the same animal.

Answer 2

Those are slang terms used in certain places. The Real name is zarigüeya, and actually, in English, the proper name is "opossum" but most people call them "possum". The true is that Possums and Opossums are two different animals. They are only related to each other by the fact that they both are marsupials. ---- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_possum_and_an_opossum

Answer 3

Here's the unfortunate fellow:

In several places of Latin America they are called "rabipelados" or "rabopelados". Can you guess why?