Author: Wagner, 1855
In the past, treeshrews have commonly been considered basal members of the order Primates, or united with macroscelidids in the "insectivoran" clade Menotyphla. However, as a group they have no immediate living relatives and are best classified at ordinal rank (Butler, 1972, 1980; Dene et al., 1978; Luckett, 1980; McKenna and Bell, 1997). At a deeper phylogenetic level, scandentians apparently form a natural group with dermopterans and primates (Murphy et al., 2001b). Representatives of the order are confined to southern, eastern, and SE Asia both currently and in the fossil record, which extends back to the Middle Eocene in east Asia (McKenna and Bell, 1997). Most previous workers have arranged Scandentia as a monofamilial order, but recognition of two families (Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae) more aptly conveys the anatomical disparity evident among the living treeshrews.
Despite the attention paid to the higher-level phylogenetic relationships of treeshrews, a modern revision of species-level taxonomy in the group is still unavailable; the most recent comprehensive review remains that of Lyon (1913), a thorough but now long-outdated work. Chasen (1940), Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1966), and Corbet (in Corbet and Hill, 1992) produced regional lists of named forms, but not critical systematic treatments, and the latter two listings are beset by overlumping. This account is likewise no substitute for a comprehensive systematic review of the order, but in its preparation I have examined all treeshrew specimens (including types) in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Comparative Zoology, and National Museum of Natural History, as well as a number of type specimens stored in European collections.
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3 comments:
I really like learning about animals like this. I already knew the name Tree Shrew, but I didn't know anything about them or what one looked like.
Does this one listed as endangered too?
Ratty.
Among the small mammals that i study, i really like tree shrews. Once, they are group in Primates until they separated it into it's own group. I have a chance to captured 6 different species out of 10 that occurs in Borneo. It was interesting to observed them in the wild and i saw a few times they eating on Ficus and ginger fruits. It is just amazing animals and you can Google to find more information about this creature.
Joe.
Only two species listed as Endangered and i just publish the latest post about IUCN Red List. It is not Bornean tree shrews that listed as Endangered. However, a few species of tree shrews in Borneo seems to be decreasing in their populations. I think threats to this animals is habitat destruction.
Thanks for both of you for interested in this posts.
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