Plantain squirrel
Species of squirrel from Southeast Asia
| Plantain squirrel | |
|---|---|
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Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Callosciurus |
| Species: | C. notatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Callosciurus notatus (Boddaert, 1785) | |
| Subspecies[2] | |
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| Distribution in red | |
The plantain squirrel, oriental squirrel or tricoloured squirrel (Callosciurus notatus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves, parks, gardens, and agricultural areas. Fruit farmers consider them to be pests.
Description
Its body is about 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long with a similar-sized tail. It is greyish/brown with a chestnut belly and a black and white stripe on the side. It is very quick and agile in trees, able to jump a few metres between trees, and rarely wanders on the ground.
Diet
Its diet consists mostly of leaves and fruits, but it also eats insects and bird eggs. It is known to break open twigs that contain ant larvae to eat them.[3] It can eat fruits much bigger than itself, such as mangoes, jackfruit, or coconuts.
Taxonomy
The genus name Callosciurus means "beautiful squirrel". Kloss's squirrel (Callosciurus albescens) is sometimes considered a subspecies.
References
- ^ Duckworth, J. W. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Callosciurus notatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T3600A115065317. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T3600A22254046.en. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ Thorington, R.W. Jr.; Hoffmann, R.S. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference (3rd ed.). The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 754–818. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4. OCLC 26158608.
- ^ Anja Leo, Damage to Macaranga ant-plants by a myrmecophagous squirrel (Callosciurus notatus, Rodentia, Sciuridae) in West Malaysia [1] Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/plantain_squirrel.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110716084244/http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/squirrelplantain.htm
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Callosciurus notatus.
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Extant species of family Sciuridae (subfamily Callosciurinae)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Rodentia
- Suborder: Sciuromorpha
- Ear-spot squirrel (Callosciurus adamsi)
- Kloss's squirrel (Callosciurus albescens)
- Kinabalu squirrel (Callosciurus baluensis)
- Grey-bellied squirrel (Callosciurus caniceps)
- Pallas's squirrel (Callosciurus erythraeus)
- Finlayson's squirrel (Callosciurus finlaysonii)
- Hon Khoai squirrel (Callosciurus honkhoaiensis)
- Inornate squirrel (Callosciurus inornatus)
- Mentawai squirrel (Callosciurus melanogaster)
- Black-striped squirrel (Callosciurus nigrovittatus)
- Plantain squirrel (Callosciurus notatus)
- Borneo black-banded squirrel (Callosciurus orestes)
- Phayre's squirrel (Callosciurus phayrei)
- Prevost's squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii)
- Irrawaddy squirrel (Callosciurus pygerythrus)
- Anderson's squirrel (Callosciurus quinquestriatus)
(Red-cheeked squirrels)
- Bornean mountain ground squirrel (Dremomys everetti)
- Red-throated squirrel (Dremomys gularis)
- Orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel (Dremomys lokriah)
- Perny's long-nosed squirrel (Dremomys pernyi)
- Red-hipped squirrel (Dremomys pyrrhomerus)
- Asian red-cheeked squirrel (Dremomys rufigenis)
- Philippine pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus concinnus)
- Least pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis)
- Tufted pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus whiteheadi)
- Subgenus Funambulus: Layard's palm squirrel (Funambulus layardi)
- Dusky palm squirrel (Funambulus obscurus)
- Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum)
- Nilgiri palm squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus)
- Jungle palm squirrel (Funambulus tristriatus)
- Subgenus Prasadsciurus: Northern palm squirrel (Funambulus pennantii)
- Sculptor squirrel (Glyphotes simus)
- Montane long-nosed squirrel (Hyosciurus heinrichi)
- Lowland long-nosed squirrel (Hyosciurus ileile)
(striped ground squirrels)
- Four-striped ground squirrel (Lariscus hosei)
- Three-striped ground squirrel (Lariscus insignis)
- Niobe ground squirrel (Lariscus niobe)
- Mentawai three-striped squirrel (Lariscus obscurus)
- Berdmore's ground squirrel (Menetes berdmorei)
- Black-eared squirrel (Nannosciurus melanotis)
- Secretive dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus abstrusus)
- Alston's Sulawesi dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus alstoni)
- Whitish dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus leucomus)
- Celebes dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus murinus)
- Sanghir squirrel (Prosciurillus rosenbergii)
- Roux's Sulawesi dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus topapuensis)
- Weber's dwarf squirrel (Prosciurillus weberi)
- Shrew-faced squirrel (Rhinosciurus laticaudatus)
- Red-bellied squirrel (Rubrisciurus rubriventer)
- Subgenus Aletesciurus: Davao squirrel (Sundasciurus davensis)
- Bornean mountain ground squirrel (Sundasciurus everetti)
- Horse-tailed squirrel (Sundasciurus hippurus)
- Northern Palawan tree squirrel (Sundasciurus juvencus)
- Mindanao squirrel (Sundasciurus mindanensis)
- Culion tree squirrel (Sundasciurus moellendorffi)
- Philippine tree squirrel (Sundasciurus philippinensis)
- Palawan montane squirrel (Sundasciurus rabori)
- Samar squirrel (Sundasciurus samarensis)
- Southern Palawan tree squirrel (Sundasciurus steerii)
- Subgenus Sundasciurus: Brooke's squirrel (Sundasciurus brookei)
- Fraternal squirrel (Sundasciurus fraterculus)
- Jentink's squirrel (Sundasciurus jentinki)
- Low's squirrel (Sundasciurus lowii)
- Natuna squirrel (Sundasciurus natunensis)
- Robinson's squirrel (Sundasciurus robinsoni)
- Upland squirrel (Sundasciurus tahan)
- Slender squirrel (Sundasciurus tenuis)
- Subgenus incertae sedis:
- Sumatran mountain squirrel (Sundasciurus altitudinis)
(Asiatic striped squirrels)
- Himalayan striped squirrel (Tamiops mcclellandii)
- Maritime striped squirrel (Tamiops maritimus)
- Cambodian striped squirrel (Tamiops rodolphii)
- Swinhoe's striped squirrel (Tamiops swinhoei)
Category
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