Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores

The authors review museum specimens and published records to clarify taxonomic identities and geographic ranges of several North American marsupials, insectivores, and carnivores. Through direct examination of skulls, pelage, and measurements they reassign disputed specimens to subspecies, document color-phase variation and intergradation among opossum populations, and correct earlier locality-based identifications. The paper presents specimen-specific notes, maps of distributional evidence, and a proposed arrangement of North American Didelphis taxa based on morphological comparisons and geographic continuity.