Higher classification Marsupial | Phylum Chordata Scientific name Australidelphia Rank Superorder | |
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Lower classifications Diprotodontia, Microbiotheria, Wombat, Marsupial mole, Dasyurids | ||
Australidelphia is the superorder that contains roughly three-quarters of all marsupials, including all those native to Australasia and a single species from South America. (All other American marsupials are members of the Ameridelphia.) Analysis of retrotransposon insertion sites in the nuclear DNA of a variety of marsupials has shown that the South American monito del monte's lineage is the most basal of the superorder. The Australian australidelphians form a clade, for which the name Euaustralidelphia ("true Australidelphia") has been proposed (the branching order within this group is yet to be determined). The study also showed that the most basal of all marsupial orders are the other two South American groups (Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata, with the former probably branching first). This indicates that Australidelphia arose in South America along with the other major divisions of extant marsupials, and likely reached Australia via Antarctica in a single dispersal event after Microbiotheria split off.
Contents
Phylogeny
Phylogeny of living Australidelphia based on the work of May-Collado, Kilpatrick & Agnarsson 2015 with extinct clades from Black et al. 2012
Taxonomy
The orders within this group are listed below: