Tree Shrew

Tree Shrew
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
small, arboreal mammal of the family Tupaiidae, found in S Asia. The 17 known species of tree shrews are classified as the order Tupaioidea or Scandentia.

Tree shrews blend in with their surroundings and they are often found in the upper branches of their exhibit, so look sharp and look up!
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Tree shrew ...

Lesser Tree Shrew
Tupaia minor
Home Range
Southern Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo.

Tree shrews are omnivorous. Their eyes are large and their hearing is excellent. They are often active during the day. They may be found in trees or on the ground. Socially, some species are solitary, others are found in pairs or even small groups.

Scandentia - tree shrews
There are 19 species of tree shrews. Tree shrews have long tails, a pointed nose, and sharp curved claws.

The closest relatives of bats among mammals may be tree shrews (tupaiids), primates or colugos/flying lemurs (dermopterans); together, these four groups would form the grandorder Archonta.

(1995) Eurasian Insectivores and Tree Shrews - Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Macdonald, D.W. (2006) The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Nowak, R.M.

Family Ptilocercidae (1 species)
Family Tupaiidae: (19 species), tree shrews (Southeast Asia)
Clade Primatomorpha
Order Dermoptera ...

Monkey
The term monkey is commonly applied to a large number of primates, excluding only the tree shrews, the lemurlike forms, the apes, and humans ...

smallest of mammals ; some 2 and a half inches total length , to 6 and a half inches long . The shrewes saliva is poisonous and if injected into a mouse is fatal, and causes discomfort to humans. The African elephant shrews and Oriental tree shrews ...

Primates earlier than around 50 million years ago are little known, but it is thought that they shared an ancestor with rodents during the time of the dinosaurs, and that the earliest primates were rather like squirrels or tree shrews.

Perhaps surprisingly, bats are also related to the Primates, the mammal taxon that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans; and to the Scandentia, the Asian tropical tree shrews.

See also: Shrew, Squirrel, Lemur, Elephant, Insectivore