Cover Legend
Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon where expression of a gene in this generation depends on whether it resided in a male or female the previous generation, a Lamarckian-like inheritance (portrait: Jean Baptiste Lamarck). Comparative phylogenetic footprint analysis of mammalian species from the nonimprinted monotremes (purple region) and the imprinted marsupials (magenta region) and eutherian mammals (pink region) was used to identify putative cis-acting elements (sequence shown) involved in the origins and evolutionary maintenance of genomic imprinting. Members of the oviparous monotremes (echidna and platypus) and viviparous marsupials (opossum) and eutherians (mouse, lemur, and human) are pictured. (Cover design by James V. Jirtle, Webwiz Design/ http://www.webwizdesign.com.