CreatureData

Dusky caenolestid

Caenolestes fuliginosus (Tomes, 1863)

LCLeast Concernmarsupials

The dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus) is a species in the family Caenolestidae, order Paucituberculata. Recorded adults weigh 27.8 g to 40 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus)
Photo: Joseph Wolf ? · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the dusky caenolestid

Weight
27.8 g – 40 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
38.1 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
3.81src for Young per litter or clutch
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the dusky caenolestid live?

Not recorded

What is the dusky caenolestid?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus), also known as Tate's shrew opossum, is a shrew opossum from South America. The dusky caenolestid is characterized by a dark brown coat with a lighter underbelly, soft and thick fur, and a loosely haired tail. A nocturnal animal (active mainly at night), the dusky caenolestid lives on trees and feeds on insects and small invertebrates and vertebrates. It occurs in alpine and páramo forests in northern and western Colombia, Ecuador, and western Venezuela. The IUCN classifies this shrew opossum as least concern.

From the Wikipedia article “Dusky caenolestid” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dusky_caenolestid&oldid=1352535783), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the dusky caenolestid endangered?

The dusky caenolestid is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the dusky caenolestid classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPaucituberculata
  5. familyCaenolestidae
  6. genusCaenolestes
  7. SpeciesCaenolestes fuliginosus (Tomes, 1863)

Synonyms Caenolestes tatei, Hyracodon fuliginosus

Other names and names in other languages (20)
  • Common gray shrew opossumEnglish
  • Common grey shrew opossumEnglish
  • Common grey shrew opossumEnglish
  • Dusky shrew-opossumEnglish
  • Ecuadorean shrew-opossumEnglish
  • Ecuadorean shrew-opossumEnglish
  • Silky shrew opossumEnglish
  • Silky shrew opossumEnglish
  • أبوسوم الزباب الرمادي الشائعArabic
  • vačík rejsčíCzech
  • Ecuador-OpossummausGerman
  • Ratón marsupial sedosoSpanish
  • kolumbiansupiaisopossumiFinnish
  • Cénolestidé D´équateurFrench
  • エクアドルケノレステスJapanese
  • EcuadorinkaspissmusNorwegian Bokmål
  • EcuadoropossummuisDutch
  • ZbójnikPolish
  • zbójnik ciemnyPolish
  • Эквадорский ценолестRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the dusky caenolestid

Other species in the same genus Caenolestes.

CompareDusky caenolestid vs Gray-bellied caenolestidDusky caenolestid vs Andean caenolestidDusky caenolestid vs Northern caenolestidDusky caenolestid vs Sangay shrew opossum

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the dusky caenolestid?

An adult dusky caenolestid weighs 27.8 g – 40 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the dusky caenolestid endangered?

The dusky caenolestid is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long is the dusky caenolestid pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 38.1 days.

What kind of animal is the dusky caenolestid?

The dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus) belongs to the family Caenolestidae in the order Paucituberculata.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-caenolestid

MLA

“Dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-caenolestid.

BibTeX
@misc{dusky_caenolestid_2026,
  title = {Dusky caenolestid (Caenolestes fuliginosus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-caenolestid},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}