Japanese Squirrel

Taxobox
name = Japanese Squirrel

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status = LC
status_system = iucn2.3
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
familia = Sciuridae
genus = "Sciurus"
subgenus = "Sciurus"
species = "S. lis"
binomial = "Sciurus lis"
binomial_authority = Temminck, 1844
synonyms = The Japanese Squirrel ("Sciurus lis") is a species of rodent in the Sciuridae family. It is endemic to Japan.

Appearance

Japanese squirrels are reddish grey and have tufted ears and bushy tails.

Distribution

The Japanese squirrel is distributed on the islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan. Recently, populations on south-western Honshu and Shikoku decreased and those on Kyushu disappeared. One of the factors affecting the local extinction of this species seems to be forest fragmentation by human activities.

External links

*Baillie, J. 1996. Sciurus lis. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed 29 January 2008.
*2007 [http://www.iucnredlist.org IUCN Red List of Threatened Species website.] Accessed 29 January 2008.
*Thorington, R. W. and R. S. Hoffmann. 2005. Family Sciuridae. pp. 754-818 in " [http://books.google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&pg=PP1&dq=%22Mammal+Species+of+the+World+A+Taxonomic+and+Geographic+Reference%22&sig=ACfU3U3QbMGcRw5R5XGgixEUNk9AUZO-fQ#PPA754,M1 Mammal Species of the World A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference] ". Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.