''Monodelphis pinocchio'', also known as the long-nosed short-tailed opossum (not to be mistaken with '' Monodelphis scalops'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of mammal in the family Didelphidae. It is native to southeastern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Taxonomy

The specific epithet refers to the fictional doll

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

from ''

The Adventures of Pinocchio ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pi ...

'', alluding to the enlarged

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

of this opossum, which resembles Pinocchios's elongated nose.

Description

It is a small species of opossum. It is uniformly brown all over its body, with a pale gray belly.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, in the states of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, and Esperito Santo. It is restricted to montane habitats.

References

Mammals described in 2015 {{Marsupial-stub