Finlayson's squirrel or the variable squirrel (''Callosciurus finlaysonii'', sometimes misspelled ''C. finlaysoni'') is a species of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
in the family
Sciuridae
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...
. It is found in
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
,
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
,
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. The species occurs in a wide range of wooded habitats, including gardens and parks in cities like
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
.
[Francis, C.M. (2008). A Guide to the Mammals of Southeast Asia. Pp. 144–145, 333–334. Princeton University Press. ][Ecology Asia]
Variable or Finlayson's Squirrel
Retrieved 11 July 2018. It was named in honour of the Scottish naturalist and traveller
George Finlayson.
It has numerous
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
that vary greatly in appearance. One of these, ''C. f. bocourti'' (
syn. ''C. f. floweri''
), has been
introduced to
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and two regions in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, probably a result of the species' popularity in the pet trade. It is possible that some of the ''
Callosciurus
''Callosciurus'' is a genus of squirrels collectively referred to as the "''beautiful squirrels''". They are found mainly in Southeast Asia, though a few species also occur in Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh and southern China. Several of t ...
'' squirrels introduced into Japan are also Finlayson's squirrels.
Finlayson's squirrel has also been introduced in the Philippines, particularly in the
Greater Manila area where it is considered as an
invasive species
An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...
.
Taxonomy and appearance
The Finlayson's squirrel has a head-and-body length of about and its tail is about long.
[
There are currently 16 recognised subspecies.][ while others consider it a ]synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely 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 a ...
of ''C. f. bocourti'' (as done in the following colour description).nominate
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In th ...
) is overall whitish, ''C. f. albivexilli'', ''C. f. boonsongi'', ''C. f. germaini'' and ''C. f. nox'' are overall blackish (first with white tail-tip, second occasionally with white underside, face and feet), ''C. f. annellatus'' is overall 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 d ...
with a light band at the base of the tail, ''C. f. bocourti'' is whitish below with highly variable colour of the upperparts (whitish, grey, blackish, olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
-brownish or reddish), ''C. f. cinnamomeus'' is overall reddish with a dark mid-back, ''C. f. ferrugineus'' is reddish-brown, ''C. f. harmandi'' has brownish upperparts, orange-red underparts and light grey tail, ''C. f. menamicus'' is reddish or orangish, often has greyish legs and flanks, and sometimes a white belly, and ''C. f. sinistralis'' has grizzled upperparts, reddish underparts and reddish tail with a pale band at the base.[Boonkhaw, Phadet, Prayoon, Umphornpimon, Kanchanasaka, Budsabong, Hayashi, Fumio, Tamura, Noriko (2017). Colour polymorphism and genetic relationships among twelve subspecies of Callosciurus finlaysonii in Thailand. ''Mammalian Biology – Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 85'', 6–13. ] Unnamed populations also remain (for example, a population in central Laos is shiny black with red tail and shoulder/chest region) and even within described subspecies there are often some individual variations.clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s, which often were separated by water (large rivers in the mainland and the sea for the islands). The study also revealed that the mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
of this species compared to the closely related Pallas's squirrel
Pallas's squirrel (''Callosciurus erythraeus''), also known as the red-bellied tree squirrel, is a species of squirrel native to China, Taiwan, India, and Southeast Asia.
Description
Pallas's squirrel is a medium-sized tree squirrel, with a ...
is not monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
.[ A subsequent study recommended that, to maintain monophyletic species, ''flavimanus'' and ''griseimanus'', which traditionally are recognized as being subspecies of Pallas's squirrel in southeastern Indochina (central and southern Vietnam, adjacent parts of Cambodia and southern Laos), should be considered part of Finlayson's squirrel. The study also found that ''flavimanus'', as traditionally defined, actually consists of at least two clearly separate lineages, both part of Finlayson's squirrel.]Nonthaburi
Nonthaburi (, ) is the principal city of the district and province of the same name in Thailand.
On 15 February 1936, Nonthaburi town municipality ('' thesaban mueang'') was established, which only covered Suan Yai subdistrict (''tambon''), j ...
, Thailand (colour difference is individual, not related to male/female)
File:Callosciurus finlaysonii 177035226.jpg, ''C. f. bocourti'' in Wang Nam Khiao, Thailand
File:Callosciurus finlaysonii cinnamomeus 86117364.jpg, ''C. f. cinnamomeus'' in Khao Soi Dao, Thailand
File:Callosciurus finlaysonii 99592168.jpg, ''C. f. germaini'' on Côn Đảo
The Côn Đảo ("Côn Island") are an archipelago of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province, in the Southeast region of Vietnam, and also a district () of this province.
Geography
Situated about from Vũng Tàu and from Ho Chi Minh City, the grou ...
, Vietnam
Behavior
Like other squirrels of its genus (the "beautiful squirrels", ''Callosciurus
''Callosciurus'' is a genus of squirrels collectively referred to as the "''beautiful squirrels''". They are found mainly in Southeast Asia, though a few species also occur in Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh and southern China. Several of t ...
''), Finlayson's squirrel is normally a canopy-dweller, feeding mainly on fruit. Field evidence suggests that it has the usual form of dichromatic mammalian color vision, which may enable it to discriminate ripe from unripe fruits.[Tamura, N., Fujii, Y., Boonkeow, P., & Kanchanasaka, B. (2015). Colour vision and food selection of ''Callosciurus finlaysonii'' (Sciuridae) in tropical seasonal forests. ''Journal of Tropical Ecology, 31'', 449–457.]
References
External links
Wildlife Singapore Photos and description
Photo gallery showing some of the variations of Finlayson's Squirrel.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2086835
Callosciurus
Mammals of Southeast Asia
Rodents of Myanmar
Rodents of Thailand
Rodents of Laos
Fauna of Italy
Mammals described in 1823
Taxa named by Thomas Horsfield
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot