Topic: Opossum/Possum dilemma

Posted under General

Oddly Arousing

Member
Reason

Many users, especially those who live in countries where "opossum" and "possum" are interchangable, don't actually know the difference between the two, or sometimes that there even is one. Having them aliased to didelphid, and phalangeriform respectively may hint that they are different, but it often goes unnoticed. This leads to a constant tag project. The scientific names have their own pros and cons, but the common name might help users more if it has some context. I suggest adding a continent to the tag to potentially help and clear up confusion. Another potential suggestion is adding visual context, however there are exceptions with a couple of species, it would make a smaller tag project. If you have other suggestions, please share.

Examples:
opossum_(americas)
possum_(australia)

Or,
didelphid_(americas)
phalangeriform_(australia)

opossum_(bare_tail)
possum_(furry_tail)

Updated

MagnusEffect

Member

I think trying to add clarifiers to the ends of mixed-up tags is gonna get shut down. Especially with the site deciding to drop the disambiguation clarifier from some disambiguation tags now.
Certain mistaggings aren't going to go away without broader education outside the scope of e621.

MagnusEffect

Member

jayfiregrowlithe said:
It's be nice to have a means to distinguish the two, since they are different in a way.

You could argue that possum on its own should be an invalid-category disambiguation tag, as to my knowledge in the case of both opossums and phalangeriformes (when not as a part of a specific species name) it's technically a colloquial term. I don't know if that'll happen under the recently-stated intentions for disambiguations.

oddly_arousing said:
_(australlia)

I should probably also point out Australia shouldn't have a double-L
It also would be more accurate as something like australasia, as there are phlangeriform species that only exist outside Australia.

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