Predicted to enable small ribosomal subunit rRNA binding activity. Predicted to be a structural constituent of ribosome. Predicted to be involved in mitochondrial translation. Located in mitochondrion. Is expressed in several structures, including early conceptus; gonad; heart; liver; and pancreas epithelium. Orthologous to human MRPS18A (mitochondrial ribosomal protein S18A). [provided by Alliance of Genome Resources, Apr 2022]