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Marsupial relationships and a timeline for marsupial radiation in South Gondwana
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Marsupial relationships and a timeline for marsupial radiation in South Gondwana

M.A. Nilsson, U. Arnason, P.B.S. Spencer and A. Janke
Gene, Vol.340(2), pp.189-196
2004
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Abstract

Recent marsupials include about 280 species divided into 18 families and seven orders. Approximately 200 species live in Australia/New Guinea. The remaining species inhabit South America with some of these secondarily ranging into North America. In this study, we examine marsupial relationships and estimate their divergences times using complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes. The sampling, which includes nine new mtDNAs and a total number of 19 marsupial genomes, encompasses all extant orders and 14 families. The analysis identified a basal split between Didelphimorphia and remaining orders about 69 million years before present (MYBP), while other ordinal divergences were placed in Tertiary times. The monotypic South American order Microbiotheria (Dromiciops gliroides, Monito del Monte) was solidly nested among its Australian counterparts. The results suggest that marsupials colonized Australia twice from Antarctica/South America and that the divergence between Microbiotheria and its Australian relatives coincided with the geological separation of Antarctica and Australia. Within Australia itself, several of the deepest divergences were estimated to have taken place close to the Eocene/Oligocene transition.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
8 Earth Sciences
8.93 Archaeology
8.93.805 Mammalia
Web Of Science research areas
Genetics & Heredity
ESI research areas
Molecular Biology & Genetics
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