The Junin slender opossum (''Marmosops juninensis'') is a species of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n
opossum
Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...
in the family
Didelphidae.
It is known only from the valley of the
Chanchamayu
The Chanchamayo River (possibly from Quechua ''chanchay'' to walk and leap about, to walk quickly and confused, ''chancha chancha'' to walk quickly and irregularly, ''shancha'' a kind of bird, ''mayu'' river,) is a river in the Junín Region in Per ...
in
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
(a range that includes
Junín Region Junín may refer to:
Places Argentina
*Junín Partido
**Junín, Buenos Aires
*** Junín Airport
* Junín Department, Mendoza
** Junín, Mendoza
* Junín Department, San Luis
*Junín de los Andes, Neuquén
Colombia
*Junín, Cundinamarca
*Juní ...
) where it lives in
Andean
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...
montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
s at elevations between 1460 and 2200 m.
The species is threatened by destruction of its forest habitat as the area under cultivation in the region increases.
References
Opossums
Mammals of Peru
Mammals described in 1931
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