A descoberta dos marsupiais e a “simivulpa”, um esquecido símbolo do Novo Mundo

Subject to several controversies and speculations, the voyage of Vicente Yáñez Pinzón to the New World (1499-1500) led to the discovery of the first marsupial ever seen by an European. Described as a “monstrous beast” by the chronicler Pietro Martire d’Anghiera, this quadruped attracted great attention for having a pouch in its belly in which it carried its young. Based on this account, Martin Waldseemüller included a fanciful image of this mammal in his famous “Carta Marina” of 1516. Although more accurate figures and reports already existed in the first half of the 16th century, Martire d’Anghiera and Waldseemüller would define much of the later narratives and illustrations, being reproduced or adapted on numerous occasions. Under the name of “simivulpa” (“apish fox”), this “prodigious animal” was regarded as a symbol of the Americas for several decades, with a well marked presence in the cartography. Such a view finally disappeared at the end of the 17th century, but the reluctance of scholars to consider marsupials as a distinct group of mammals, with characteristics very different from those of placentals, has given rise to many doubts and misconceptions, some of which destined to persist at least until the beginning of the 20th century.