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Prevost's squirrel or Asian tri-coloured squirrel (''Callosciurus prevostii'') is a colourful 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 forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula,
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
,
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
and nearby smaller islands, with an introduced population in northern
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
. Although the Prevost's squirrel is declining in some regions because of habitat loss and hunting, the species is not considered threatened since it generally remains common and widespread. It can live in somewhat disturbed habitats and often visits plantations or gardens. It mostly feeds on plant material, especially fruits, but also takes insects.


Appearance and taxonomy

The Prevost's squirrel is a medium-sized squirrel, but one of the larger species in its range, although clearly surpassed by the giant squirrels and giant flying squirrels. The head-and-body of the Prevost's squirrel typically is long and the tail length is about the same; it weighs . Individuals from small islands tend to be smaller in size than those from medium-small islands, but on large islands this pattern is reversed. In general, the
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 ...
of the Prevost's squirrel have been described based on their colour patterns. While there are significant geographical variations, there are also some individual variations within each region. The underparts are always reddish-orange to rich
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 ...
. The typical form, including the subspecies of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (''C. p. prevostii'' and others), is among the most colourful mammals in the world with its black upperparts and tail, reddish-orange underparts, whitish thighs and flanks, and grey to grey-white cheeks. Some subspecies from elsewhere are quite similar, like the grey-cheeked ''C. p. rafflesii'' of southern Sumatra and black-cheeked ''C. p. melanops'' of eastern Sumatra, as well as those from southwestern Borneo. Several others differ noticeably, especially in northern, central and eastern Borneo where some have grey or olivaceous-greyish thighs, orange cheeks, grizzled or olivaceous-greyish upperparts, or a greyish or greyish-banded tail. Four subspecies are uniquely dark and bicoloured: ''C. p. caedis'' from Banggi and nearby islands, ''C. p. piceus'' from northern Sumatra, ''C. p. pluto'' from northeastern Borneo and ''C. p. rufonigra'' from
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
are black above, including tail, thighs and cheeks, and rich rufous below (no whitish to thighs, flanks or cheeks). As many as 44 subspecies have been named for the Prevost's squirrel, but recent authorities have generally recognized far less. For example, in 2005 ''
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...
'' only recognized 6, listing the rest as
synonyms 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 these subspecies or as undefined synonyms (synonyms of the species but not associated with any subspecies). In 2012, 32 subspecies were recognized in ''Squirrels of the World''. The situation is particularly complex in Borneo. There has been no recent detailed taxonomic review and it remains unclear how many subspecies should be recognized.


Behaviour

The Prevost's squirrel is active during the day and mostly stays in trees, only occasionally moving on the ground. The 1–3 young are born after a gestation that lasts around seven weeks. The nest is made of sticks, bark and grass.


Feeding

This squirrel eats fruits, nuts, seeds, buds, flowers,
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s and
bird egg Bird eggs are laid by the females and range in quantity from one (as in condors) to up to seventeen (the grey partridge). Avian clutch size, Clutch size may vary latitudinally within a species. Some birds lay eggs even when the eggs have not been ...
s. They have been observed feeding on
durian The durian () is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognized species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species ...
s such as '' Durio graveolens''. These squirrels carry the fruits far from the tree and drop the seeds when finished with their meal. This seed distribution away from the parent plant increases survival for the fruiting plant species.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13426343 Callosciurus Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Malaysia Rodents of Indonesia Mammals described in 1822 Taxa named by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Rodents of Borneo