How Are Marsupials Classified, Overall?

　　The order Marsupialia consists of 18 families grouped into two suborders: the Polyprotodonta and the Diprotodonta.

　　The suborder Polyprotodonta contains nine families (although one is probably extinct). They are the American opossums, the Didelphidae; the marsupial carnivores, the Dasyuridae; the numbat, the Myrmecobiidae; the marsupial mole, the Notoryctidae; the bandicoots, the Peramelidae; the bilbies, the Thylacomyidae; the shrew opossums, the Caenolestidae; the monito del monte, the Microbiotheriidae; and, if it still exists, the thylacine, the Thylacinidae.

　　The suborder Diprotodonta also has nine families. These are the cuscuses and brushtail possums, the Phalangeridae; the ringtail possums, the Pseudocheiridae; the gliders, the Petauridae; the pygmy possums, the Burramyidae; the honey possum, the Tarsipedidae; the wombats, the Vombatidae; the koala, the Pascolarctidae; the rat kangaroos, the Potoroidae; and the kangaroos and wallabies, the Macropodidae.

　　Within each family there are a varying number of species. Some of the marsupials in this classification are now extinct and more are on the endangered list.