Britannica AI Icon

Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

List of marsupials, A marsupial is any of the more than 250 species characterized by premature birth and continued development of the newborn while attached to the nipples on the mother’s lower belly. This is a list of selected marsupials ordered alphabetically by taxonomic group. (See also mammal; mammalogy.)

order Dasyuromorphia

dasyurids (family Dasyuridae)
family Myrmecobiidae
  • numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
family Thylacinidae
  • thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus; recently extinct)

order Didelphimorphia

family Didelphidae

order Diprotodontia

family Acrobatidae
  • gliders (genera Acrobates and Distoechurus)
family Burramyidae
  • –
family Hypsiprymnodontidae
family Macropodidae
family Petauridae
phalangers (family Phalangeridae)
family Phascolarctidae
  • koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
family Potoroidae
family Pseudocheiridae
  • –
family Tarsipedidae
  • –
family Vombatidae
  • wombats (genera Lasiorhinus and Vombatus)

order Microbiotheria

family Microbiotheridae

order Notoryctemorphia

family Notoryctidae

order Paucituberculata

family Caenolestidae

order Peramelemorphia

family Chaeropodidae
family Peramelidae
family Thylacomyidae

extinct marsupials

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.