The cream-coloured giant squirrel or pale giant squirrel (''Ratufa affinis'') is a large

tree squirrel Tree squirrels are the members of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) commonly just referred to as "squirrels." They include more than 100 arboreal species native to all continents except Antarctica and Oceania. They do not form a single natural, o ...

in the genus '' Ratufa'' 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 ar ...

, Sumatra (Indonesia),

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 ea ...

(

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

, Indonesia and Malaysia) and nearby small islands. The species is

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

and vulnerable to

habitat degradation 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 ...

, and it has probably been

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

in Singapore where the last sighting was in 1995. Reported sightings in

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 ...

in 1984 are considered to be dubious.

Description

The cream-coloured giant squirrel is one of the largest squirrels. It has a head–and–body length of , a tail length of and weighs . On average, adults of both sexes have a head–and–body length of about and tail length of , while females weight about and males . As suggested by its name, the cream-coloured giant squirrel is typically overall

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

to very light orangish-brown, while the underparts are whitish-cream. In Borneo and nearby small islands where it is the only ''Ratufa'' giant squirrel, some populations resemble cream-coloured giant squirrels from elsewhere, but most have upperparts that are medium-dark grey, sometimes almost black (contrasting strongly with the whitish-cream underparts), the flanks and thighs can have a reddish-

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

tinge and the cheeks are orangish.

Habitat

The cream-coloured giant squirrel makes its home in lower

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

and secondary forests, frequenting

dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = f ...

trees. It rarely enters

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s or settlements, preferring the forest. Although this squirrel primarily inhabits the upper

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

of the forest, it will at times come to ground in order to hunt smaller species of squirrels, or to cross gaps in the trees.

Behaviour

This species is diurnal, active from morning to evening. They live either in pairs or alone. When it is angry or shocked, it will give a loud sound that can be heard from afar. Although this squirrel often will make holes in trees for shelter, during the breeding season it constructs a large globular

drey A drey is the nest of a tree squirrel, flying squirrel or ringtail possum. Dreys are usually built of twigs, dry leaves, and grass, and typically assembled in the forks of a tall tree. They are sometimes referred to as "drey nests" to distin ...

(or nest) in tree branches, roughly the size of an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

’s

aerie Aerie (a variant of eyrie) is the bird nest of an eagle, falcon, hawk, or other bird of prey. Aerie may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Aerie (Baldur's Gate), Aerie (''Baldur's Gate''), a character in ''Baldur' ...

. The young are born and raised in this nest. The main dietary habits of ''Ratufa affinis'' are seeds, which it supplements with leaves, fruits, nuts, bark, insects, and eggs. The squirrel has a very short thumb that it uses to hold and control its food while feeding. Unlike other tree squirrels, the cream-coloured giant squirrel does not sit upright with its tail arched over its back while feeding; instead, it balances itself with its hind feet on a branch so that its hands are free to control its food. In this position the axis of the squirrels body is held at right angles to the support, with its head and forequarters on one side of the branch, and the tail as a counterweight on the other side.

Taxonomy

The table below lists the nine recognized subspecies of ''Ratufa affinis'', along with any synonyms associated with each subspecies:

References

Bibliography

*Nowak, Ronald M. ''Walker’s mammals of the world.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. , OCLC: 39045218. Chapter: "Sciuridae: squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, and prairie dogs" in volume two.

External links

Pale giant squirrel (Ratufa affinis)
- Arkive.org page about this species, includes images. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1194191 Ratufa Rodents of Southeast Asia Rodents of Indonesia Rodents of Malaysia Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Brunei Mammals of Thailand Mammals described in 1821 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot