This species tolerates a variety of habitat types. Although it occurs in rainforests including secondary forest, it may also be found in edge habitats around clearings. It is less abundant in dry deciduous forests. It is found in mature, disturbed and secondary growth rainforest, gardens and plantations. This species is predominantly terrestrial and crepuscular (Eisenberg 1989) or completely diurnal (Emmons and Feer 1990, Engstrom et al. 1999, Engstrom and Lim 2002) in its habits. It is apparently chiefly insectivorous. Up to seven young are born in a single litter. In northern Venezuela the breeding season extends from May through August. The behaviour patterns and breeding biology are probably similar to those of M. domestica, a species well studied in captivity (Emmons and Feer 1997, Eisenberg and Redford 1999). It occurs at up to 1,200 m asl (Emmons and Feer 1997, Eisenberg and Redford 1999).

This species occurs in eastern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, south to northern Brazil (bounded by the Orinoco, Negro and Amazon rivers; Voss et al. 2001, Gardner 2005).

It is found in several protected areas.