Nevertheless, the ranges of shrew opossums and insectivores overlap broadly.

It is the best known of the six surviving species of the order Paucituberculata (shrew opossums).

Shrew opossums have lost ground to these and other placental invaders that fill the same ecological niches.

It is unique among shrew opossums and, as such, is the only species in its genus, Rhyncholestes.

The common shrew opossums (genus Caenolestes), are members of the Caenolestidae family.

Chulpasia is an extinct genus of Eocene marsupial related to today's shrew opossums.

Marsupials in South America included didelphimorphs (opossums), shrew opossums and several other small groups.

Family Caenolestidae (shrew opossums)

Shrew opossums (caenolestids)

Order Paucituberculata (shrew opossums)

American opossums (order Didelphimorphia) and shrew opossums (order Paucituberculata)

By contrast, marsupials are today totally absent from Africa and form a smaller portion of the mammalian fauna of South America, where opossums, shrew opossums, and the monito del monte occur.

Their smaller relatives remain, including Anteaters, tree sloths, armadillos; New World Marsupials: Opossums, Shrew opossums, and the Monito del Monte (actually more related to Australian marsupials).

In South America, the opossums retained a strong presence, and the Tertiary saw the evolution of shrew opossums (Paucituberculata) and metatherian predators such as the borhyaenids and the saber-toothed Thylacosmilus.

Nevertheless, the ranges of shrew opossums and insectivores overlap broadly.

It is the best known of the six surviving species of the order Paucituberculata (shrew opossums).

Shrew opossums have lost ground to these and other placental invaders that fill the same ecological niches.

It is unique among shrew opossums and, as such, is the only species in its genus, Rhyncholestes.

The common shrew opossums (genus Caenolestes), are members of the Caenolestidae family.

Chulpasia is an extinct genus of Eocene marsupial related to today's shrew opossums.

Marsupials in South America included didelphimorphs (opossums), shrew opossums and several other small groups.

Family Caenolestidae (shrew opossums)

Shrew opossums (caenolestids)

Order Paucituberculata (shrew opossums)

American opossums (order Didelphimorphia) and shrew opossums (order Paucituberculata)

By contrast, marsupials are today totally absent from Africa and form a smaller portion of the mammalian fauna of South America, where opossums, shrew opossums, and the monito del monte occur.

Their smaller relatives remain, including Anteaters, tree sloths, armadillos; New World Marsupials: Opossums, Shrew opossums, and the Monito del Monte (actually more related to Australian marsupials).

In South America, the opossums retained a strong presence, and the Tertiary saw the evolution of shrew opossums (Paucituberculata) and metatherian predators such as the borhyaenids and the saber-toothed Thylacosmilus.

Within the family of the Caenolestidae, six species are known:

The common shrew opossums (genus Caenolestes), are members of the Caenolestidae family.

Shrew Opossum (Caenolestidae)

The gray-bellied caenolestid (Caenolestes caniventer), or grey-bellied shrew opossum, is a species of shrew opossum in the family Caenolestidae.