Tupaiidae is one of two

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

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" treeshrew ...

s, the other family being Ptilocercidae. The family contains three living genera and 19 living

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 ...

. The family name derives from ''tupai'', the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel which tupaiids superficially resemble. The former

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Urogale The Mindanao treeshrew (''Tupaia everetti''), also called the Philippine tree shrew, is a species of treeshrew endemic to the Mindanao region in the Philippines. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus ''Urogale'', but that genus ...

'' was disbanded in 2011 when the Mindanao treeshrew was moved to ''Tupaia'' based on a molecular phylogeny. Unlike shrews, they possess a fairly large

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a ve ...

for their size. While some research has found treeshrews as the closest living relative to primates, most molecular studies currently find the flying lemurs (

colugos Colugos () are arboreal gliding mammals that are native to Southeast Asia. Their closest evolutionary relatives are primates. There are just two living species of colugos: the Sunda flying lemur (''Galeopterus variegatus'') and the Philippine ...

) as the sister group to primates despite their gliding specializations.

Taxonomy

* Genus '' Anathana'' ** Madras treeshrew, ''A. ellioti'' * Genus '' Dendrogale'' **

Bornean smooth-tailed treeshrew The Bornean smooth-tailed treeshrew (''Dendrogale melanura'') is a species of treeshrew in the family Tupaiidae. It is endemic to Borneo. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description ...

, ''D. melanura'' ** Northern smooth-tailed treeshrew, ''D. murina'' * Genus '' Tupaia'' ** Northern treeshrew, ''T. belangeri'' ** Golden-bellied treeshrew, ''T. chrysogaster'' ** Striped treeshrew, ''T. dorsalis'' ** Mindanao treeshrew, ''T. everetti'' ** Common treeshrew, ''T. glis'' ** Slender treeshrew, ''T. gracilis'' ** Horsfield's treeshrew, ''T. javanica'' ** Long-footed treeshrew, ''T. longipes'' ** Pygmy treeshrew, ''T. minor'' ** Calamian treeshrew, ''T. moellendorffi'' ** Mountain treeshrew, ''T. montana'' ** Nicobar treeshrew, ''T. nicobarica'' ** Palawan treeshrew, ''T. palawanensis'' ** Painted treeshrew, ''T. picta'' ** Ruddy treeshrew, ''T. splendidula'' ** Large treeshrew, ''T. tana''

Conservation

A majority of the species, 71.4%, in this family are of least concern, according to the IUCN red list. Nearly a twentieth of the species, 4.8%, are vulnerable and the same number are endangered. 19% of the species have not had enough data collected yet for them to be rated on the scale.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1184603 Treeshrews Mammal families Taxa named by John Edward Gray