The gray, short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica, is the most extensively used, laboratory-bred marsupial resource for basic biologic and biomedical research worldwide. To enhance the research utility of this species, we are building a linkage map, using both anonymous markers and functional gene loci, that will enable the localization of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and provide comparative information regarding the evolution of mammalian and other vertebrate genomes. The current map is composed of 83 loci distributed among eight autosomal linkage groups and the X chromosome. The autosomal linkage groups appear to encompass a very large portion of the genome, yet span a sex-average distance of only 633.0 cM, making this the most compact linkage map known among vertebrates. Most surprising, the male map is much larger than the female map (884.6 cM vs. 443.1 cM), a pattern contrary to that in eutherian mammals and other vertebrates. The finding of genome-wide reduction in female recombination in M. domestica, coupled with recombination data from two other, distantly related marsupial species, suggests that reduced female recombination might be a widespread metatherian attribute. We discuss possible explanations for reduced female recombination in marsupials as a consequence of the metatherian characteristic of determinate paternal X chromosome inactivation. M ETATHERIAN ("marsupial") mammals have a biomedical models, all of which are eutherian species. However, marsupials and eutherians are more closely long history in research as models for organismal related to one another than to any other vertebrate and cellular physiology, endocrinology, and developmodel species (e.g., birds, amphibians, fishes). Thus, mental patterns and processes and more recently have marsupials represent a unique midpoint between euthetaken their place alongside eutherian ("placental") mamrian and nonmammalian vertebrate models. mals as serious subjects for genetically oriented biomediAs a legacy of their common ancestry, marsupials and cal and evolutionary research (reviewed by Samollow eutherians share genetic mechanisms and molecular and Graves 1998; Graves and Westerman 2002). This processes that represent fundamental (ancestral) mamincreased interest in the genetic characteristics of marmalian characteristics. Nevertheless, since their diversupials reflects the growing utility and importance of gence from a common ancestor 081-051ف million years comparative models in biomedical research (Womack ago (MYA; Hope et al. 1990;Kumar and Hedges 1998; Pollock et al. 2000; Postlethwait Woodburne et al. 2003) eutherian and marsupial mamet al. 2000) and the broadening recognition of the value mals have evolved many distinctive morphologic, physof the unique phylogenetic position of marsupials in iologic, and genetic variations on these elemental the mammalian lineage. Marsupials are phylogenetimammalian designs. These phylogenetically restricted cally distinct from the more commonly used mammalian differences can be used as c...