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Monito del Monte | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Monito del Monte

Dromiciops gliroides

MammaliaCool temperate Valdivian rainforest with dense bamboo understoreyLeast Concern

Field profile

The monito del monte is a small nocturnal marsupial that looks like a mouse with large dark eyes. It builds spherical nests of water-repellent bamboo leaves and hibernates through the southern winter. Despite living in South America, it is more closely related to Australian marsupials than to its American neighbours.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-12-22

Monito del Monte

A Chilean marsupial belongs with the Australian ones

Molecular and morphological evidence place the monito del monte in Australidelphia, the group containing Australia's marsupials, rather than with the American opossums it lives among. It is the sole survivor of an order that once spanned Antarctica.

Read with evidence →