Prevost's squirrel
| Prevost's squirrel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Callosciurus |
| Species: | C. prevostii |
| Binomial name | |
| Callosciurus prevostii (Desmarest, 1822) | |
Prevost's squirrel or Asian tri-colored squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in forest in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and nearby smaller islands, with an introduced population in northern Sulawesi. They eat fruits, nuts, seeds, buds, flowers, insects and bird eggs. These squirrels carry the fruits far from the tree and drop the seeds when finished with their meal. The seeds far from the parent tree with reduced likelihood to be eaten by other animals bear an opportunity to produce new generation of plants.
The "typical" subspecies (for example C. p. prevostii from the Thai-Malay Peninsula) of Prevost's squirrel are among the most colourful mammals in the world with their black upperparts and tail, reddish-orange underparts, and whitish thighs and flanks. The markings in some subspecies are duller, and C. prevostii pluto from northeastern Borneo is reddish-orange below and black above (no whitish thighs or flanks).[2]
References
- ↑ Duckworth, J. W. & Hedges, S. (2008). Callosciurus prevostii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
- ↑ Payne, J., and C. M. Francis (1985), A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo. ISBN 967-99947-1-6
- 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.
- Prevost's Squirrel at Animal Diversity Web