common opossum; southern opossum; black-eared opossum
Refers to the marsupial species Didelphis marsupialis. Typically written in katakana as a biological name.
The common opossum is a marsupial that lives in Central and South America.
Kanji spelling is possible but rarely used; the word is usually written in kana.
From 南 (minami, 'south') + オポッサム (opossamu, 'opossum'), a calque or direct borrowing of the English 'southern opossum'.