The ruddy treeshrew (''Tupaia splendidula'') is a

treeshrew The treeshrews (or tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia, which split into two families: the Tupaiidae (19 species, "ordinary" treeshrews) ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the family

Tupaiidae Tupaiidae is one of two families of treeshrews, the other family being Ptilocercidae. The family contains three living genera and 19 living species. The family name derives from ''tupai'', the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel which ...

. 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 elsew ...

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 ...

, the Natuna Islands and the Anambas Islands.

Habitat and threats

The ruddy treeshrew occurs in the forests of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It lives at lower elevations, never occurring over 500 meters above sea level. Although listed as Least Concern, the ruddy treeshrew is still threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, due to causes such as

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. Due to this, its population is slowly decreasing.

Subspecies

The ruddy treeshrew has 5 subspecies, widely distributed throughout Indonesia: * ''T. splendidula carimatae'' Miller, 1906 (

Karimata Islands The Karimata Islands are a chain of small islands off the west coast of Indonesian Borneo, the largest of which is (Pulau) Karimata, being about across (east-west). It is part of Kayong Utara Regency of West Kalimantan province in Indonesia. Kar ...

) * ''T. splendidula lucida'' Thomas and Hartert, 1895 (

Laut Island Laut (literally "sea") is an island in the Kota Baru Regency Kotabaru Regency is one of the eleven regencies in the Indonesian province of South Kalimantan. It consists of two parts; the smaller but more populated part comprises Laut Island , t ...

) * ''T. splendidula natunae'' Lyon, 1911 ( Natuna Besar) * ''T. splendidula riabus'' Lyon, 1913 ( Anambas Islands) * ''T. splendidula splendidula''

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, 1865 (Southern

)

References

Treeshrews Mammals of Indonesia Mammals described in 1865 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{mammal-stub