The sculptor squirrel or Bornean pygmy squirrel (''Glyphotes simus'') is a species of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
in the family
Sciuridae
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
. It was described by
Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas
Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist.
Career
Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...
in 1898. It is
monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
within the genus ''Glyphotes''.
[ It is ]endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and inhabits areas elevated at .
The body is long, and the tail length is approximately 100 mm. The chest, undersurface, sides of the nose, margins of the ears and dorsal surface of the digits are yellow, whereas the tip of the tail is black.
References
Further reading
*Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005
Family Sciuridae
pp. 754–818 (782) ''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 described in 1898
Endemic fauna of Malaysia
Rodents of Malaysia
Callosciurinae
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Squirrel-stub