A 100-year-old woman got the shock of a lifetime when she woke up to find an exotic animal lying on her chest.

The woman was reportedly "terrified" by the discovery that the monkey-like rainforest animal, called a Kinkajou, had somehow broken into her Miami home and crawled on top of her in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Apart from being shocked she was otherwise unscathed by the ordeal.

Her son-in-law Carlos Aguaras told NBC he did not know what to think when he received a call from her at 2am in the morning but was surprised when he learnt there was such an unusual animal in the pensioner's home.

According to South Dade Animal Hospital, which has been caring for the animal, since identified as a house pet called Banana, it was lucky the creature turned out to be "domesticated" as otherwise the woman could have been hurt.

The hospital's Dr Harris said: "No undomesticated wild animal like this would curl up on a woman's chest to go to sleep. Long story she could have lost a limb."

Banana's owners have not been identified but special permits do allow people in the US to keep Kinkajous as exotic pets.