List of monotremes and marsupials

Last updated

The class Mammalia (mammals) is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: egg-laying mammals (yinotherians or monotremes - see also Australosphenida), and mammals which give live birth (therians). The latter subclass is divided into two infraclasses: pouched mammals (metatherians or marsupials), and placental mammals (eutherians, for which see List of placental mammals). Classification updated from Wilson and Reeder's "Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference" using the "Planet Mammifères" website. [1]

Contents

Subclass Prototheria (the monotremes)

Order Monotremata (monotremes, egg-laying mammals)

Subclass Theria

Infraclass Metatheria (marsupials)

Order Didelphimorphia (American opossums)

Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) Opossum 2.jpg
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Order Paucituberculata

Order Microbiotheria (monito del monte)

Order Notoryctemorphia (marsupial moles)

Order Dasyuromorphia (marsupial carnivores)

Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) Thylacinus.jpg
Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)

Order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies)

Eastern barred bandicoot Perameles gunni.jpg
Eastern barred bandicoot

Order Diprotodontia (diprotodont marsupials)

Suborder Vombatiformes (wombats and koalas)
Suborder Phalangeriformes (possums and gliders)
Suborder Macropodiformes (kangaroos, wallaroos, wallabies)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phalangeriformes</span> Suborder of arboreal marsupials

Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas. However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opossum</span> Family of mammals

Opossums are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of North and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macropodidae</span> Family of marsupial mammals

Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and are native to the Australian continent, New Guinea and nearby islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dasyuridae</span> Family of marsupials

The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', as most members of the family are insectivores.

<i>Marmosa</i> Genus of marsupials

The 27 species in the genus Marmosa are relatively small Neotropical members of the family Didelphidae. This genus is one of three that are known as mouse opossums. The others are Thylamys and Tlacuatzin, the grayish mouse opossum. Members of the genus Marmosops used to be called "slender mouse opossums", but are now just called "slender opossums". The thirteen members of the Marmosa subgenus Micoureus, known as woolly mouse opossums, were formerly considered to be a separate genus, but were moved into Marmosa in 2009. Based on a comparison of sequences of one mitochondrial and three nuclear genes, three new subgenera, Eomarmosa, Exulomarmosa and Stegomarmosa, were recognized by Voss et al. in 2014. Eomarmosa and Exulomarmosa, as well as Marmosa and Micoureus, are thought to be sister taxa, while Stegomarmosa is viewed as sister to Marmosa plus Micoureus. Exulomarmosa is a mostly trans-Andean clade.

References

  1. Boudet Ch. "Planet' Mammiferes". Planet' Mammiferes. 4.1 of 2013/12/23. Retrieved 2016-04-17.