Thylamys

Thylamys[1]
Temporal range: Mid Miocene (Colloncuran) to Recent
~14–0 Ma
Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae
Subfamily: Didelphinae
Tribe: Thylamyini
Genus: Thylamys
J. E. Gray, 1843
Type species
Didelphis elegans
Species

See text

Thylamys is a genus of opossums in the family Didelphidae. The premaxillae are rounded rather than pointed. The females lack a pouch. The females' nipples are arranged in two symmetrical rows on the abdomen.[2] All species but T. macrurus store fat in their tails.,[3] although this is not necessarily true for all species in the genus.[4] Fossils belonging to the genus date back to the Miocene, with the oldest specimens being found in the Cerro Azul Formation of Argentina and the Honda Group of Colombia.[5] Genetic studies indicate that the genus may have originated around 14 million years ago.[6]

  1. ^ Gardner, A.L. (2005). "Order Didelphimorphia". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Eisenberg, John Frederick; Redford, Kent Hubbard (1999). Mammals of the Neotropics: The Central Neotropics: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil. University of Chicago Press. p. 624. ISBN 978-0-226-19542-1.
  3. ^ Gardner, Alfred L. (2008). Mammals of South America: Marsupials, xenarthrans, shrews, and bats. University of Chicago Press. p. 669. ISBN 978-0-226-28240-4.
  4. ^ Voss, R.S. & Jansa, S.A. (2003). "Nonmolecular data and new IRBP sequences: separate and combined analyses of didelphine relationships with denser taxon sampling". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 276: 1–82. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2003)276<0001:PSODMI>2.0.CO;2. hdl:2246/444. S2CID 55193165.
  5. ^ Braun, J.K.; et al. (2005). "Phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of mouse opossums Thylamys (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) in southern South America". Journal of Mammalogy. 86 (1): 147–159. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2005)086<0147:PABROM>2.0.CO;2.
  6. ^ Steiner, C.; et al. (2005). "New DNA data from transthyretin nuclear intron suggest an Oligocene to Miocene diversification of living South American opossums (Marsupialia: Didelphidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 35 (2): 363–379. Bibcode:2005MolPE..35..363S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.12.013. PMID 15804409.