Taxonomy and Diversity of Living American Marsupials

Abstract

New World marsupials belong to three different orders: Didelphimorphia, Micro-biotheria, and Paucituberculata. Didelphimorphia is one of the most speciose andsuccessful radiations of recent Neotropical mammals, while Microbiotheria andPaucituberculata were more diverse during the Tertiary and are consideredrelictual elements in modern faunas. Phylogenetic studies based on moleculardata have deeply changed the current perception about the taxonomy and diver-sity of this group of mammals, including recognizing several new genera, sub-genera, and species during the last two decades. Part of the currently recognizeddiversity can be considered cryptic, since some supposedly well-known specieswere split into more than one species and even multiple genera. In some cases, therecognition of supraspecific taxa, such as subgenera, helped to organize thediversity in some speciose genera. In this contribution, the taxonomic changesproduced within all the three orders of New World marsupials during the lastcentury are reviewed, focusing on the last two decades. It is emphasized thatintegrative studies, including different sources of evidence and large sampleswithout geographical limitations, were key to the current better understanding ofthe diversity of this group of mammals.