Today, this order of marsupials is represented by one small family of shrew-like animals, the Caenolestidae , with 5 species. All caenolestids live in western South America. The characteristics given here apply only to living forms. The margin of each upper lip is interrupted by a distinctive flap of skin. Their tails are long but not prehensile, and their feet are not syndactylous .
Females lack a pouch.
Caenolestids have a rounded cranium , weak zygomatic arches, and a long and conical rostrum. The upper canines are large stabbing teeth. Caenolestids have peculiarly paired sperm. Paired sperm are not found in any Australian marsupials. They forage in dense vegetation on the ground in dense, cold, and wet forests either at high elevations in the Andes or along the southern coast of Chile.