Callosciurus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Callosciurus Fossil range: Early Pleistocene to Recent |
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Callosciurus adamsi |
Callosciurus is a Southeast Asian genus of squirrels. Several of the species have settled on small islands, and have developed separate subspecies. In total, the genus contains 14 species and up to 300 subspieces or varieties. The genera Glyphotes, Rubrisciurus, and Tamiops are sometimes also included in Callosciurus.
Several species are very colourful; in fact, they belong to the most colourful mammals. The Pallas's squirrel has an unremarkable olive green back, but its belly is bright red. The Prevost's squirrel has a black back, white sides, and red-brown underside. The Finlayson's squirrel occurs in three varieties: red-brown, black, and pure white. The length of these squirrels is between 15 and 25 cm, not including the 8 to 25 cm long tail.
Most squirrels in Callosciurus live in tropical rain forests, but some individuals live in parks and gardens in Southeast Asian cities. In the trees, they build their nests out of plant material. The are solitary, and give birth to one to five young. Their food consists of nuts, fruits, and seeds, and also of insects and bird eggs.
[edit] Species
There are about 15 species:
- Callosciurus erythraeus (Pallas 1779), Pallas's squirrel: southern China, Taiwan, Hainan, Southeast Asia.
- Callosciurus quinquestriatus (Anderson 1871), Anderson's squirrel: border region of Yunnan (China) and Myanmar.
- Callosciurus finlaysonii (Horsfield 1824), Finlayson's squirrel: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia.
- Callosciurus albescens (Bonhote, 1901), Kloss's Squirrel: northern Sumatra.
- Callosciurus caniceps (Gray 1842), Gray-bellied squirrel: Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysian peninsula.
- Callosciurus inornatus (Gray 1867), Inornate squirrel, Yunnan (China), Laos, Vietnam.
- Callosciurus pygerythrus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1831), Irrawaddy squirrel, Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar.
- Callosciurus phayrei (Blyth 1856), Phayre's squirrel: southern Myanmar.
- Callosciurus prevostii (Desmarest 1822), Prevost's squirrel: Malaysian peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, numerous small islands; introduced to Sulawesi.
- Callosciurus baluensis (Bonhote 1901), Kinabalu squirrel: northwestern Borneo.
- Callosciurus notatus (Boddaert 1785), Plantain squirrel: Malaysian peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Lombok, numerous small islands.
- Callosciurus nigrovittatus (Horsfield 1824), Black-striped squirrel; Malaysian peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, numerous small islands.
- Callosciurus adamsi (Kloss 1921), Ear-spot squirrel: northwestern Borneo.
- Callosciurus melanogaster (Thomas 1895), Mentawai squirrel: Mentawai Islands.
- Callosciurus orestes (Thomas 1895), Borneo black-banded squirrel: northwestern Borneo.
The Kloss Squirrel (Callosciurus (notatus) albescens) of Sumatra is sometimes considered to be a separate species, but more often as a subspecies of the plantain squirrel.
[edit] References
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
- Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Pp. 754-818 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Mammals of Borneo
