Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania,[1] it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, sclerophyll forest, woodland and heath.

The eastern pygmy possum is the type species of the genus Cercartetus (family Burramyidae), and was first described as Phalangista nana with the specific name meaning 'dwarf' in Latin.

They are dull grey above and white below, with big, forward pointing, almost hairless, ears and a long prehensile tail, with thick fur at the base that becomes sparser towards the tip.

They inhabit shrubby vegetation in a wide variety of habitats, from open heathland or shrubland to sclerophyll or rainforest, at elevations from sea level to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft).

[5] The first specimen of an eastern pygmy possum known to Europeans was collected by François Péron, a naturalist aboard Nicolas Baudin's voyage to the south seas.

[3] Whilst on a short stay on Maria Island, off eastern Tasmania between 19 and 27 February 1802, Péron traded with the Aboriginal inhabitants for a single small marsupial.

[7] In an unpublished manuscript (now held in the Le Havre Museum in France) Péron also wrote that the animal 'was given to me by the natives; it was still alive; I believe it to be a new species and have described it as Didelphis muroides because of its resemblance to the D. mus of Linnaeus'.

[8] The specimen collected by Péron (a juvenile male) was transported back to France, and is now held in the Muséum National d’Historie Naturelle in Paris as the holotype.

It is incorporated into the fossil record because owls and/or quolls that have preyed on eastern pygmy possums (and other small mammals) deposit regurgitated or faecal pellets in caves which then act as excellent preservation sites.

ochi; the mites Guntheria newmani, G. shieldsi, Ornithonyssus bacoti (normally a parasite of captive rats), and Stomatodex cercarteti (type described from C. nanus); two nematodes Tetrabothriostrongylus mackerrasae and Paraustrostrongylus gymnobelideus; and the common marsupial tick Ixodes tasmani.