Phylogeography and Systematics of the Slender Mouse Opossum Marmosops (Marsupialia, Didelphidae)

This monograph details molecular (DNA sequence) and morphological variation of slender mouse opposums of the genus Marmosops, a diverse but biologically poorly known group of insectivorous marsupials of the neotropical wet forests. Emphasis is placed on taxa of the Atlantic rainforest of coastal Brazil, with comparisons made to those of Amazonia. Lineages of these opossums are quite old, likely dating fromthe late Tertiary, and the acutal number of species in the genus is considerably higher than presently believed. Both of these findings are important to issues of meaasurement and management of biodiversity in threatened ecosystems.