Scientific Name	Monodelphis domestica
Common Name	-
Taxonomy ID	13616
Lineage	cellular organisms > Eukaryota > Opisthokonta > Metazoa > Eumetazoa > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata > Gnathostomata > Teleostomi > Euteleostomi > Sarcopterygii > Dipnotetrapodomorpha > Tetrapoda > Amniota > Mammalia > Theria > Metatheria > Didelphimorphia > Didelphidae > Didelphinae > Monodelphis
External Links	NCBI;
Representative Assembly	MonDom5	GCF_000002295.2	DNA GFF RNA Protein

Description:

Opossums and other marsupial (metatherian) mammals are the closest phylogenetic relatives of placental (eutherian) mammals. Another group of more distantly related mammals, monotremates or prototherian mammals, is comprised of the egg-laying platypus and echidnas. Prototherian, metatherian, and eutherian mammals are more closely related to one another than to other vertebrates such as birds, amphibians, or fish. Marsupial genomes are approximately the same size as other mammalian genomes; however, they tend to have fewer, larger chromosomes. TheMonodelphis domestica diploid genome is organized in eight pairs of autosomes and two sex chromosomes.Monodelphis domestica is the predominant laboratory-bred research marsupial and has been used to study evolution, development, photo-biology and DNA repair, and neurobiology. It is becoming an increasingly important model organism for comparative genomic research.