The 'treeshrews' are small
mammals native to the tropical forests of
Southeast Asia. They make up the
families Tupaiidae and
Ptilocercidae and the entire
order 'Scandentia'. There are 20
species in 5
genera. Treeshrews have the highest
brain to body mass ratio of any animal, even higher than
humans.
Although called ''treeshrews'', they are not true
shrews (although they were previously classified in the
Insectivora), and are not all
arboreal. Among other things, they eat
Rafflesia fruit.
Classification

Dentition of ''Tupaia''
Treeshrews were moved from
Insectivora to the
Primates order, because of certain internal similarities to the latter, and classified as a primitive
prosimian. However, recent
molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated that treeshrews should be given the same rank (
order) as the primates and, with the primates and the
flying lemurs, belong to the clade
Euarchonta. The Euarchonta are sister to the
Glires (
lagomorphs and
rodents), and the two groups are combined into the clade
Euarchontoglires.
★ 'ORDER SCANDENTIA'
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★ Family
Tupaiidae
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★ Genus ''
Anathana''
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Madras Treeshrew, ''Anathana ellioti''
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★ Genus ''
Dendrogale''
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Bornean Smooth-tailed Treeshrew, ''Dendrogale melanura''
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Northern Smooth-tailed Treeshrew, ''Dendrogale murina''
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★ Genus ''
Tupaia''
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Northern Treeshrew, ''Tupaia belangeri''
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Golden-bellied Treeshrew, ''Tupaia chrysogaster''
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Striped Treeshrew, ''Tupaia dorsalis''
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Common Treeshrew, ''Tupaia glis''
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Slender Treeshrew, ''Tupaia gracilis''
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Horsfield's Treeshrew, ''Tupaia javanica''
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Long-footed Treeshrew, ''Tupaia longipes''
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Pygmy Treeshrew, ''Tupaia minor''
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Calamian Treeshrew, ''Tupaia moellendorffi''
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Mountain Treeshrew, ''Tupaia montana''
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Nicobar Treeshrew, ''Tupaia nicobarica''
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Palawan Treeshrew, ''Tupaia palawanensis''
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Painted Treeshrew, ''Tupaia picta''
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Ruddy Treeshrew, ''Tupaia splendidula''
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Large Treeshrew, ''Tupaia tana''
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★ Genus ''
Urogale''
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Mindanao Treeshrew, ''Urogale evereti''
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★ Family
Ptilocercidae
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★ Genus ''
Ptilocercus''
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Pen-tailed Treeshrew, ''Ptilocercus lowii''
References
★
External links
★ http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/rforest/animals/shrew.htm
★ http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/SmallMammals/fact-lessertreeshrew.cfm
★ http://www.hoglezoo.org/animals/view.php?id=183