Thylamys Gray, 1843

Giarla, T. C., Voss, R. S. & Jansa, S. A., 2010, Species Limits And Phylogenetic Relationships In The Didelphid Marsupial Genus Thylamys Based On Mitochondrial Dna Sequences And Morphology, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2010 (346), pp. 1-67 : 38

Subgenus Thylamys Gray, 1843

TYPE SPECIES: Thylamys elegans ( Waterhouse, 1839) .

CONTENTS: Seven species, as recognized below.

REMARKS: Monophyly of the subgenus Thylamys is strongly supported by phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA sequence data ( fig. 11). Although none of the morphologi-

cal traits that distinguish this subgenus from Xerodelphys (table 15) optimize as synapomorphies on the best current estimate of thylamyine relationships ( Voss and Jansa, 2009: fig. 36), resolution of the still-uncertain relationships of Chacodelphys could change this situation. Because Chacodelphys , Lestodelphys , and Xerodelphys are all short-tailed taxa that lack a distinct caudal prehensile surface, phylogenies that include the nested clades ( Chacodelphys ( Lestodelphys ( Xerodelphys ( Thylamys )))) could constrain character optimizations such that a relatively long tail ($ HBL) and well-developed caudal prehensile surface would be synapomorphic for the subgenus Thylamys .