Prevost's squirrel or Asian tri-colored squirrel (''Callosciurus prevostii'') is a colourful 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 na ...

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 is found in forests in the

Thai-Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and nearby smaller islands, with an introduced population in northern

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. Although the Prevost's squirrel is declining in some regions because of habitat loss and hunting, the species is not considered threatened since it generally remains common and widespread. It can live in somewhat disturbed habitats and often visits plantations or gardens. It mostly feeds on plant material, especially fruits, but also takes insects.

Appearance and taxonomy

The Prevost's squirrel is a medium-sized squirrel, but one of the larger species in its range, although clearly surpassed by the

giant squirrel Oriental giant squirrels are cat-sized tree squirrels from the genus ''Ratufa'' in the subfamily Ratufinae. They are a distinctive element of the fauna of south and southeast Asia. Species There are four living species of oriental giant squirre ...

s and

giant flying squirrel ''Petaurista'' is a genus of rodent in the family Sciuridae. They are large to very large flying squirrels found in forests and other wooded habitats in southern and eastern Asia. Like other flying squirrels, they are mostly nocturnal and able ...

s. The head-and-body of the Prevost's squirrel typically is long and the tail length is about the same; it weighs . Individuals from small islands tend to be smaller in size than those from medium-small islands, but on large islands this pattern is reversed. In general, the

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the Prevost's squirrel have been described based on their colour patterns. While there are significant geographical variations, there are also some individual variations within each region. The underparts are always reddish-orange to rich

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

. The typical form, including the subspecies of the

(''C. p. prevostii'' and others), is among the most colourful mammals in the world with its black upperparts and tail, reddish-orange underparts, whitish thighs and flanks, and grey to grey-white cheeks. Some subspecies from elsewhere are quite similar, like the grey-cheeked ''C. p. rafflesii'' of southern Sumatra and black-cheeked ''C. p. melanops'' of eastern Sumatra, as well as those from southwestern Borneo. Several others differ noticeably, especially in northern, central and eastern Borneo where some have grey or olivaceous-greyish thighs, orange cheeks, grizzled or olivaceous-greyish upperparts, or a greyish or greyish-banded tail. Four subspecies are uniquely dark and bicoloured: ''C. p. caedis'' from

Banggi Banggi Island ( ms, Pulau Banggi) is located within the Kudat Division of Sabah in Malaysia. With an area of 440.7 square kilometres, it is the largest island in Malaysia followed by Bruit Island, Langkawi Island and Penang Island. It is locate ...

and nearby islands, ''C. p. piceus'' from northern Sumatra, ''C. p. pluto'' from northeastern Borneo and ''C. p. rufonigra'' from

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capit ...

are black above, including tail, thighs and cheeks, and rich rufous below (no whitish to thighs, flanks or cheeks). As many as 44 subspecies have been named for the Prevost's squirrel, but recent authorities have generally recognized far less. For example, in 2005 ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

'' only recognized 6, listing the rest as

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of these subspecies or as undefined synonyms (synonyms of the species but not associated with any subspecies). In 2012, 32 subspecies were recognized in ''Squirrels of the World''. The situation is particularly complex in Borneo. There has been no recent detailed

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

review and it remains unclear how many subspecies should be recognized.

Behaviour

The Prevost's squirrel is active during the day and mostly stays in trees, only occasionally moving on the ground. The 1–3 young are born after a gestation that lasts around seven weeks. The nest is made of sticks, bark and grass.

Feeding

This squirrel eats fruits, nuts, seeds, buds, flowers,

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

bird egg Bird eggs are laid by the females and range in quantity from one (as in condors) to up to seventeen (the grey partridge). Clutch size may vary latitudinally within a species. Some birds lay eggs even when the eggs have not been fertilized; it is ...

s. They have been observed feeding on

durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...

s such as ''

Durio graveolens ''Durio graveolens,'' sometimes called the red-fleshed durian, orange-fleshed durian, or yellow durian, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae. It is one of six species of durian named by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari. The specific ...

''. These squirrels carry the fruits far from the tree and drop the seeds when finished with their meal. This seed distribution away from the parent plant increases survival for the fruiting plant species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13426343 Callosciurus Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Malaysia Rodents of Indonesia Mammals of Borneo Mammals described in 1822 Taxa named by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest Taxonomy articles created by Polbot