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The order Paucituberculata contains the seven surviving species of shrew opossum: small, shrew-like marsupials which are confined to the Andes mountains of South America. The order is thought to have diverged from the ancestral marsupial line very early. Traditionally they have been considered part of Ameridelphia alongside true opossums, but genetic studies indicate a closer relationship to australidelphians. As recently as 20 million years ago, at least seven genera were in South America. Today, just three genera remain. They live in inaccessible forest and grassland regions of the High Andes. Shrews were entirely absent from South America until the Great American Interchange three million years ago, and are currently present only in the northwestern part of the continent. Traditionally, it was thought that shrew opossums lost ground to these and other placental invaders that fill the same ecological niches. Evidence suggests, however, that both groups not only overlap, but do not seem to be in direct competition, and the marsupials' larger size seems to imply that they prey on shrews and rodents〔Albuja V. L. & Patterson, B. D. 1996. A new species of northern shrew-opossum (Paucituberculata: Caenolestidae) from the Cordillera del Condor, Ecuador. Journal of Mammalogy 77, 41-53.〕 Several opossums like ''Monodelphis'' also occupy small insectivore niches. Shrew opossums (also known as rat opossums or caenolestids) are about the size of a small rat (9–14 cm long), with thin limbs, a long, pointed snout and a slender, hairy tail. They are largely carnivorous, being active hunters of insects, earthworms, and small vertebrates. They have small eyes and poor sight, and hunt in the early evening and at night, using their hearing and long, sensitive whiskers to locate prey. They seem to spend much of their lives in underground burrows and on surface runways. Like several other marsupials, they do not have a pouch, and it appears that females do not carry the young constantly, possibly leaving them in the burrow.〔Patterson (2008), page 126〕 Largely because of their rugged, inaccessible habitat, they are very poorly known and have traditionally been considered rare. Recent studies suggest they may be more common than had been thought. ==Classification== Within the family of the Caenolestidae, six species are known: * Genus ''Caenolestes'' * * Gray-bellied caenolestid, ''Caenolestes caniventer'' * * Andean caenolestid, ''Caenolestes condorensis'' * * Northern caenolestid, ''Caenolestes convelatus'' * * Dusky caenolestid, ''Caenolestes fuliginosus'' * * Eastern caenolestid, ''Caenolestes sangay'' * Genus ''Lestoros'' * * Peruvian or Incan caenolestid, ''Lestoros inca'' * Genus ''Rhyncholestes'' * * Long-nosed caenolestid, ''Rhyncholestes raphanurus'' However, Bublitz suggested in 1987 there were actually two ''Lestoros'' and ''Rhyncholestes'' species (those listed here plus ''L. gracilis'' and ''R. continentalis''). This is, however, not accepted by most scientists. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shrew opossum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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