Monito del monte

The monito del monte or colocolo opossum, Dromiciops gliroides, also called chumaihuén in Mapudungun, is a diminutive marsupial native only to southwestern South America (Argentina and Chile). It is the only extant species in the ancient order Microbiotheria, and the sole New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia (all other New World marsupials are members of the paraphyletic Ameridelphia). The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of South American mountain bamboo in the Valdivian temperate forests of the southern Andes, aided by its partially prehensile tail. It eats primarily insects and other small invertebrates, supplemented with fruit.

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

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

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