''Manticavirus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

in the subfamily ''

Gammaherpesvirinae ''Gammaherpesvirinae'' is a subfamily of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'' and in the family ''Herpesviridae''. Viruses in ''Gammaherpesvirinae'' are distinguished by reproducing at a more variable rate than other subfamilies of ''Herpesvir ...

'', in the family ''

Herpesviridae ''Orthoherpesviridae'', previously named and more widely known as ''Herpesviridae'', is a large family of DNA viruses that cause infections and certain diseases in animals, including humans. The members of this family are commonly known as herp ...

'', in the order ''

Herpesvirales ''Herpesvirales'' is an order of dsDNA viruses (Baltimore group I) with animal hosts, characterised by a common morphology consisting of an icosahedral capsid enclosed in a glycoprotein-containing lipid envelope. Common infections in humans cause ...

.'' This genus was the only genus to consist entirely of marsupial-hosted species as of the time of naming, hence the name component ''Mantica'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''knapsack''), in reference to the marsupial pouch.

Species

The genus includes the following species: * '' Manticavirus phascolarctidgamma1'', also called Phascolarctid gammaherpesvirus 1 * '' Manticavirus vombatidgamma1'', also called Vombatid gammaherpesvirus 1

References

Gammaherpesvirinae Virus genera {{Virus-stub