![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/peru-marsupial-pedro-peloso-1600-800x532.jpg\")
Credit: Pedro Peloso <\/p>\n Credit: Pedro Peloso <\/p>\n
A team of researchers discovered and photographed a new species of marsupial while exploring the Abiseo River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Peruvian Andes. The new little mammal is strange, tiny, and adorable, and only one specimen has been observed. <\/p>\n
At the time of the discovery in 2018, the lead researcher, Silvia Pavan, a Cal Poly Humboldt Biological Sciences professor, was searching for a mysterious and still unnamed species of squirrel, per a statement<\/a> from Cal Poly Humboldt. Instead of finding this squirrel, Pavan discovered a new species of opossum at an elevation of 2,664 meters on the eastern side of the Andes in San Mart\u00edn department, Peru. <\/p>\n The new species, Marmosa chachapoya, named in honor of the indigenous Chachapoya people who lived in the region before Inca and later European colonization, is just about four inches long \u2014 10 when counting its tail. The animal is closely related to Marmosa lepiada and M. anderson Pine, the researchers explain in their research paper<\/a>, recently published in American Museum of Natural History. Silvia Pavan is the lead author, joined by Edson Abreu, Pamela S\u00e1nchez-Vendiz\u00fa, and Robert Voss. <\/p>\n \u201cI realized immediately that this was something unusual,\u201d Pavan says of first seeing the new marsupial. <\/p>\n \u201cWe know very little about this species, including its natural history and distribution, and only one specimen has been collected so far,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n After the discovery and specimen collection, the researchers conducted extensive studies, including DNA analysis, to learn as much as possible. This process takes years, which is why the research from the discovery was only recently published, more than six years after the discovery. Beyond all the lab testing, it requires considerable research to cross-reference the specimen with others in museum collections worldwide, ensuring that another of the same species is not tucked away in a far-flung part of the globe. <\/p>\n Marmosa chachapoya is unique thanks to its DNA, of course, but also its fur coloration, pattern, and long, narrow snout. It also has distinct teeth and cranial structure, all of which are described in great detail in the research paper<\/a>. <\/p>\n Pavan and the others discovered other new creatures during the expedition that have not yet been formally described, including a semi-aquatic rodent. That region of Parque Nacional del R\u00edo Abiseo is strongly protected and home to \u201cremarkably high mammalian diversity.\u201d <\/p>\n ![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/peru-marsupial-pedro-peloso-2-800x537.jpg\")
Credit: Pedro Peloso<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/marsupial-peru-pedro-peloso-3-800x290.jpg\")
Credit: Pedro Peloso <\/p>\n