Plantain Squirrel

Taxobox
name = Plantain Squirrel


status = LR/lc | status_system = IUCN2.3
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
familia = Sciuridae
genus = "Callosciurus"
species = "C. notatus"
binomial = "Callosciurus notatus"
binomial_authority = (Boddaert, 1785)
synonyms = The Plantain Squirrel ("Callosciurus notatus") is a species of rodent in the Sciuridae family. It is also called Oriental or Tricoloured Squirrel.It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. They are found in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves, parks, gardens, agricultural areas. Fruit farmers consider them to be pests.

The body is about 20-30 cm long with a similar sized tail. It is greyish/brown with a chestnut belly and a black and white stripe between the two. The genus name "Callosciurus" means Beautiful Squirrels.

Its diet consists mostly of leaves and fruits, but they also eat insects and bird eggs. They are known to break open twigs that contain ant larvae to eat them. They can eat fruits much bigger than them, such as mangoes, jackfruits or coconuts. They are very quick and agile in trees, they are able to jump a few metres between trees and rarely wander on the ground.

References

* Baillie, J. 1996. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/3600/all Callosciurus notatus] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 29 July 2007.
*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.
*Anja Leo, Damage to Macaranga ant-plants by a myrmecophagous squirrel (Callosciurus notatus, Rodentia, Sciuridae) in West Malaysia [http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/gtoe/abstracts/leofeder.htm]

External links

*http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/plantain_squirrel.htm
*http://www.wildsingapore.per.sg/discovery/factsheet/squirrelplantain.htm