Swinhoe's striped squirrel (''Tamiops swinhoei'') is a small species of rodent 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 ...

. This species is found mostly in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Their diet consists of mostly seeds, fruits, nuts and ginger nectar. Like most squirrels they live in forest areas with mountains, usually in groups. They have litters that average in size of 3.25 offspring.

Physical features

They are small bodied with stripes running from their nose to their neck and a second set that run the length of their body to their tail. The stripes range in color from yellow to brown cinnamon. Small tufts of white fur can be seen on the tips of their ears. They have dense fur to accommodate for the high elevation where they live. Females have a longer tail than males.

Reproduction

Swinhoe's striped squirrels usually breed once every six months. On average they can have 3-6 offspring in a litter.

Diet

Swinhoe's striped squirrel are

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

s. They eat mostly nuts, seeds, fruits, and ginger nectar. They collect their food and store it for later dates when food is scarce.

Ecosystem contributions

Consuming seeds and nuts is helpful to disperse seeds and nuts in order for more to grow. This species of squirrel also helps humans survive by being a source of food.

Distribution and habitat

Swinhoe's striped squirrel is found mostly in Southeast Asia, China,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Hainan Island Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, and possibly

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. They live in

tropical rain forest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

, where there are many mountains, in mostly couples and groups.

References

Tamiops Mammals described in 1874 Rodents of Myanmar Rodents of China Rodents of Vietnam Fauna of Tibet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Squirrel-stub