# Most intelligent marsupial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774 "2020-04-14T15:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/21 "2020-04-15T17:28:54Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > Yeah, I figured that a predator would be at least a bit smarter than your average marsupial. Sugar gliders eat eggs and insects, so sort of a predator. Other things that could suggest intelligence besides being a predator. Moving quickly in a complex environment (lost of quick delta-vs). I don’t think roos have to do a lot of quick zigging. But we don’t know their behavior without the thylacines and such around. Also, big eyes. While mainly for night vision, big eyes also require a big brain\* to process the info. Gripping stuff. The better finger control, the smarter. - If I had a sugar glider I’d call it “Brett”, and say to it regularly “Check out the big brain on Brett!” ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/22 "2020-04-15T21:47:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Wonder no more](https://youtube.com/user/MEpearlA/videos). Possum King? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/23 "2020-04-15T22:28:43Z")
I checked with a zookeeper and he said the Tasmanian Tiger. [Thylacine - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine) Extinct, but a predator. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/24 "2020-04-15T22:41:06Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I checked with a zookeeper and he said the Tasmanian Tiger. [Thylacine - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine) > > Extinct, but a predator. Recent studies of its brain confirms that it had a more complex brain than a Tasmanian Devil. > [@](#): > > The results, when compared to the Tasmanian tiger’s closest living relative, the Tasmanian devil, suggest that the larger-brained thylacine had more cortex devoted to planning and decision-making. Tasmanian Devils are mainly scavengers, which probably takes less brain power than active predation. So although devils are a candidate for the smartest extant marsupial, it’s possible something like a quoll, which is an active hunter, might be smarter. However, I have seen many documentary films that demonstrate that a Tasmanian Devil can easily be outsmarted by a Wascally Wabbit.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/25 "2020-04-15T23:04:42Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Recent studies of its brain confirms that it had a more complex brain than a Tasmanian Devil. > > Tasmanian Devils are mainly scavengers, which probably takes less brain power than active predation. So although devils are a candidate for the smartest extant marsupial, it’s possible something like a quoll, which is an active hunter, might be smarter. > > However, I have seen many documentary films that demonstrate that a Tasmanian Devil can easily be outsmarted by a Wascally Wabbit.🙂 Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/26 "2020-04-17T21:31:45Z")
Drop bears. They are such devious little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/27 "2020-04-17T21:54:41Z")
Not to be a squee-harsher, but opossums are generally held to be terrible pets, mainly because they have exacting nutritional requirements that are very hard to meet, otherwise they rapidly sicken and die. They’re interesting beasts and I enjoy seeing them at a distance, just not having them make a winter nest in my shed.\* \*I got a nasty shock when I raised the lid of a cardboard box that had shredded newspaper leaking out, thinking mice might be living in there. Instead it was a _large_ opossum that raised his head and gave me a toothy grin. :eek: I let him resume his nap. Later on I succeeded in live-trapping him and releasing him into the back of the yard. He got a nice sardine dinner out of the experience. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/28 "2020-04-17T22:03:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Not to be a squee-harsher, but opossums are generally held to be terrible pets, mainly because they have exacting nutritional requirements that are very hard to meet, otherwise they rapidly sicken and die. Considering how many of them I have seen around and inside my house over the years, the nutritional requirements can’t be that strict. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/29 "2020-04-17T22:06:33Z")
For some years we’ve had possums living under our front porch in the Bronx. (Interesting, because they weren’t in the area 50 years ago when I was a kid.) A couple of Thanksgivings ago I was shocked to find a dead one trapped in the wooden latticework around the base of the porch. She had been able to squeeze out to leave in the evening, but she had gotten so fat for the winter that she when she returned after eating that night she was too big to get through again and got stuck. She evidently died of hypothermia during the night. (Frankly, I was relieved to find a cold dead opossum rather than having to figure out how to extract one that was enraged and snapping.) ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/30 "2020-04-17T23:14:29Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Drop bears. They are such devious little buggers. This is true, but nobody has measured a drop bear’s brain and survived to report the results. Drop bears leave no dead behind. But I probably shouldn’t have said that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/31 "2020-04-18T01:23:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > For some years we’ve had possums living under our front porch in the Bronx. (Interesting, because they weren’t in the area 50 years ago when I was a kid.) They have been around the South, of course, forever. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/nDgtX3C) is a photo of my grandfather with one. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/32 "2020-04-18T02:25:22Z")
They are in coastal California too. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/33 "2020-04-18T03:39:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > They are in coastal California too. Introduced in the early 20th century, but yeah, they’re everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/34 "2020-04-18T05:31:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This brings up questions about what the most intelligent mammal is. Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/35 "2020-04-18T05:45:11Z")
Wombats are pretty smart, actually. My cite is [Wombat Behavior](https://www.wombania.com/wombats/wombat-behavior.htm) > [@](#): > > While it was once thought that wombats weren’t very bright, it’s now generally accepted that they are quite intelligent. They are, however, very stubborn and determined, and since they’re so strong–built like a tank or bulldozer–they will often go through an obstacle rather than around it. They’ve been known to go through doors, walls, or anything else that stands in their way. That’s probably one of the reasons why they were once considered simpleminded. > > Wombat playing with a swinging log > Chewbacca, a captive Bare-nosed wombat, likes to play with a swinging log (picture courtesy of Womland) > > Playfulness is sometimes cited as a measure of intelligence. Among marsupials, wombats are the most playful. Play will often include “head butting, bitting, and running away to solicit a chase.” (ref. 47) When running, a wombat may “indulge in shoulder rolls and somersaults.” (ref. 47) Wombats often use biting to express their feelings, usually in a playful manner with no intent to injure. > > Wombats have also demonstrated they can be quite clever. In one attempt to trap wombats for scientific research, live traps were positioned at their burrows’ entrances. The wombats would usually remain in their burrows for a day or two before either digging around the trap, or digging another exit. Also [Wombat Facts - Animal Facts Encyclopedia](https://www.animalfactsencyclopedia.com/Wombat-facts.html) > [@](#): > > Wombats also have the largest brains of all the marsupials, and are notorious for cleverly digging alternate exits to their burrows when traditional traps are placed at the entrance. [One lady who runs a wombat sanctuary says](https://10daily.com.au/news/australia/a200309emdbw/please-enjoy-this-footage-of-wombats-as-youve-never-seen-them-before-20200309) > [@Brigitte Stevens](#): > > They’re extraordinary intelligent, I’ve had one undo screws to open a fence! They work out how to open doors, make their own beds and come inside to towel off or get their blankets changed. From the videos that another sanctuary posts ([Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvKA-3XQcu54dt58NhdmRZg/videos)), they know their names, are affectionate and playful and just generally goofy as hell. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/36 "2020-04-18T13:19:16Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > They have been around the South, of course, forever. [Here](https://imgur.com/a/nDgtX3C) is a photo of my grandfather with one. They’ve been in the NYC area, probably just not in NYC itself. When we moved from the Bronx to Central Jersey, possums were here. It is possible they were in the Bronx 50 years ago but just less bold? They are native to New York. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/37 "2020-04-18T14:09:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Cecil. This is true, but nobody has measured Cecil’s brain and survived to report the results. Cecil leaves no dead behind. But I probably shouldn’t have said that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/38 "2020-04-18T15:37:02Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > 'Possums around here are really dumb. Uh oh, a Mack truck speeding down the road. I know! I’ll play dead. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/39 "2020-04-18T18:16:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > They’ve been in the NYC area, probably just not in NYC itself. When we moved from the Bronx to Central Jersey, possums were here. It is possible they were in the Bronx 50 years ago but just less bold? They are native to New York. They weren’t originally native to New York, but have spread north from around Maryland since maybe 1900. They may well have been in rural and suburban areas by the 1950s. However, I spent a lot of time in parks like Pelham Bay Park and Bronx Park in the 1950s and 1960s and was keenly interested in natural history. The fact that I never saw or heard of opossums in the area implies that they weren’t present, at least in any numbers. I think I first became aware that possums were present in my neighborhood in the Bronx about 10 years ago. This is an area of mostly one and two family houses with some apartment buildings, and lots of trees on the street and in backyards. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774/40 "2020-04-18T19:24:43Z")
Similarly, armadillos are heading northward. I haven’t seen one in South Carolina yet (I really want to) but I hear that they are here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-intelligent-marsupial/851774.md?page=3)