Thylamys
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Thylamys |
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| Elegant fat-tailed mouse opossum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Didelphimorphia |
| Family: | Didelphidae |
| Subfamily: | Didelphinae |
| Tribe: | Thylamyini |
| Genus: |
Thylamys Gray, 1843 |
| Type species | |
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Didelphis elegans
Waterhouse 1839
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| Species | |
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See text |
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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. All species but T. macrurus store fat in their tails., although this is not necessarily true for all species in the genus. 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. Genetic studies indicate that the genus may have originated around 14 million years ago.
Taxonomy
Cladogram of living Thylamys species.
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Other species of Thylamys.
- †T. colombianus Goin 1997
- T. fenestrae (Marelli 1932)
- †T. minutus Goin 1997
- †T. pinei Goin, Montalvo & Visconti 2000
- †T. zettii Goin 1997