Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Brown Opossum and Albino Mourning Dove

Some interesting non-canid fauna in Queens that I have came across.


An Albino Mourning I photographed in central Queens. A very unique looking bird.





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Opossums generally have gray underfur with gray, black, or brown outer guard hair. Less commonly they have black underfur with black or gray guard hairs. I recently found a carcass of an Opossum (confirmed via dentition) on Long Island Railroad tracks that had brown underfur and brown guard hairs. A known, but very rare combination, especially in the North where the gray outer guard hair predominates.







































Sources:

A Brown Mutation in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) with Remarks upon the Gray and the Black Phases in This Species by Hartman
http://books.google.com/books?id=jcIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=A+Brown+Mutation+in+the+Opossum+%28Didelphis+virginiana%29+with+Remarks+upon+the+Gray+and+the+Black+Phases+in+This+Species&source=bl&ots=YBTZfxVvMK&sig=bh0HzxIU3D0yF01thDpZeZHtPdI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fRXsU57UBsHvoATqtILIAg&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Indiana DNR - Opossum
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3367.htm

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The Wild Mammals of Missouri by Schwartz 

http://books.google.com/books?id=uEWl0ZM6DfUC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=opossum+brown+underfur&source=bl&ots=R-GReqYKuM&sig=-BvF8kYYn5bKo5enq4WZU1308ZI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TxnsU9uRHM6dygTnw4HYCg&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Preliminary Study of the North American Opossums of the Genus Didelphis by J. A. Allen.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=wgstAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA147

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