Swinhoe's striped squirrel (''Tamiops swinhoei'') is a small species of rodent 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 ...

. This species is found mostly in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. Their diet consists of mostly seeds, fruits, nuts and ginger nectar. Like most squirrels they live in forest areas with mountains, usually in groups. They have litters that average in size of 3.25 offspring.

Physical features

They are small bodied with stripes running from their nose to their neck and a second set that run the length of their body to their tail. The stripes range in color from yellow to brown cinnamon. Small tufts of white fur can be seen on the tips of their ears. They have dense fur to accommodate for the high elevation where they live. Females have a longer tail than males.

Reproduction

Swinhoe's striped squirrels usually breed once every six months. On average they can have 3-6 offspring in a litter.

Diet

Swinhoe's striped squirrel are

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

s. They eat mostly nuts, seeds, fruits, and ginger nectar. They collect their food and store it for later dates when food is scarce.

Ecosystem contributions

Consuming seeds and nuts is helpful to disperse seeds and nuts in order for more to grow. This species of squirrel also helps humans survive by being a source of food.

Distribution and habitat

Swinhoe's striped squirrel is found mostly in Southeast Asia, China,

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 ...

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 ...

Hainan Island Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea ...

, and possibly

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 ...

. They live in

tropical rain forest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

, where there are many mountains, in mostly couples and groups.

References

Tamiops Mammals described in 1874 Rodents of Myanmar Rodents of China Rodents of Vietnam Fauna of Tibet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Alphonse Milne-Edwards {{Squirrel-stub