Monito del monte

species of mammal

The monito del monte (Spanish for "little monkey of the mount") or colocolo opossum,[4] (Dromiciops gliroides) is a small mammal that lives in South America. It is also called chumaihuén in Mapudungun. It is a marsupial, meaning it grows its young in a pouch like a possum or kangaroo. It lives only in Argentina and Chile. It is the only living species in the order Microbiotheria. It is the only animal in the superorder Australidelphia that lives in the New World. (All other New World marsupials are in the paraphyletic "Ameridelphia.") The species is active at night and lives in trees. Its tail is partially able to grab things.[5] It lives in places where South American mountain bamboo grows close together in the Valdivian temperate rain forests of the southern Andes Mountains.[1] It eats primarily insects and other small animals without bones, but it also eats fruit.[5]

Monito del monte
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Microbiotheria
Family: Microbiotheriidae
Genus: Dromiciops
Thomas, 1894[2]
Species:
D. gliroides
Binomial name
Dromiciops gliroides
Thomas, 1894[2]
Subspecies
  • Dromiciops gliroides australis F. Philippi, 1893
  • Dromiciops gliroides gliroides Thomas, 1894
Range of the monito del monte
Synonyms[3]

Didelphys australis Goldfuss, 1812
Dromiciops australis F. Philippi, 1893

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Martin, Flores & Teta 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Thomas 1894.
  3. Gardner 2005, p. 21
  4. Martinez, D. R. (1993). "Food habits of the rufous-legged owl (Strix rufipes) in temperate rainforests of southern Chile". Journal of Raptor Research. 27 (4): 214–216: 214. The colocolo opossum (Dromiciops australis) was better represented during spring and summer than during autumn and winter
  5. 5.0 5.1 Edge 2006.