Pen-tailed treeshrew

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Pen-tailed treeshrew
Ptilocercus lowii.jpg
Illustration in 1848 species description
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Scandentia
Family: Ptilocercidae
Genus: Ptilocercus
Species:
P. lowii [2]
Binomial name
Ptilocercus lowii [2]
J. E. Gray, 1848
Pen-tailed Treeshrew area.png
Pen-tailed treeshrew range

The pen-tailed treeshrew (Ptilocercus lowii) is a treeshrew of the family Ptilocercidae native to southern Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and some Indonesian islands. [1]

Contents

It is the only living species in the genus Ptilocercus. All other treeshrew species are grouped in the family Tupaiidae. [2]

Distribution and habitat

The pen-tailed treeshrew occurs from southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula to northern Sumatra, Siberut, Bangka Island and northwestern Borneo. It inhabits foremost primary forest up to an elevation of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), where undergrowth is dense. [1]

Behaviour and ecology

Pen-tailed treeshrews studied in Malaysia spent several hours per night consuming naturally fermented nectar of the bertam palm. This nectar contains one of the highest alcohol concentrations of all natural foods. The pen-tailed treeshrews did not show any signs of intoxication, although they frequently consumed large amounts of this nectar, equivalent of 10–12 glasses of wine adjusted to body weight with an alcohol content up to 3.8%. Measurements of a biomarker of alcohol dehydrogenase suggest that they may be metabolizing it by a pathway that is not used as heavily by humans. Their ability to ingest high amounts of alcohol is hypothesized to have been an evolutionary adaptation. How pen-tailed treeshrews benefit from this alcohol ingestion or what consequences of consistent high blood alcohol content might factor into their physiology is unclear. [3]

Taxonomy and evolutionary history

The Ptilocercidae are a family within the order Scandentia. Numerous morphological and genetic differences support the classification of the Ptilocercidae as a separate family from the rest of the treeshrews which diverged around 60 million years ago. [4] [5] Treeshrews are considered very close relatives of primates, with the colugos being closer to primates. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treeshrew</span> Order of mammals

The treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia, which split into two families: the Tupaiidae, and the Ptilocercidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insectivora</span> Now abandoned biological grouping

The order Insectivora is a now-abandoned biological grouping within the class of mammals. Some species have now been moved out, leaving the remaining ones in the order Eulipotyphla within the larger clade Laurasiatheria, which makes up one of the basal clades of placental mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palm wine</span> Alcoholic beverage made from tree sap

Palm wine, known by several local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Micronesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colugo</span> Family of mammals

Colugos are arboreal gliding mammals that are native to Southeast Asia. Their closest evolutionary relatives are primates. There are just two living species of colugos: the Sunda flying lemur and the Philippine flying lemur. These two species make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euarchonta</span> Mammal grandorder containing treeshrews, colugos, and primates

The Euarchonta are a proposed grandorder of mammals: the order Scandentia (treeshrews), and its sister Primatomorpha mirorder, containing the Dermoptera or colugos and the primates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The Madras treeshrew, also known as the Indian treeshrew, is a species of treeshrew in the monotypic genus Anathana found in the hill forests of central and southern India. The genus name is derived from the Tamil name of moongil anathaan and the species name is after Sir Walter Elliot of the Indian Civil Services in Madras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunda flying lemur</span> Species of mammal

The Sunda flying lemur, Sunda colugo, Malayan flying lemur or Malayan colugo is the sole colugo species of the genus Galeopterus native to Southeast Asia ranging from southern Myanmar, Thailand, southern Vietnam, Malaysia to Singapore and Indonesia.

Drunken monkey hypothesis proposes that human attraction to ethanol may derive from dependence of the primate ancestors of Homo sapiens on ripe and fermenting fruit as a dominant food source. Ethanol naturally occurs in ripe and overripe fruit when yeasts ferment sugars, and consequently early primates have evolved a genetically based behavioral attraction to the molecule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern smooth-tailed treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The northern smooth-tailed treeshrew is a species of treeshrew in the family Tupaiidae found in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Their diet primarily consists of invertebrates but rarely includes fruits and plants.

<i>Ptilocercus</i> Genus of mammals

Ptilocercus is a genus of treeshrew and the sole member of the family Ptilocercidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pygmy treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The pygmy treeshrew is a treeshrew species within the family Tupaiidae. It is native to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The generic name is derived from the Malay word tupai meaning squirrel or small animals that resemble squirrels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The mountain treeshrew is a treeshrew species within the Tupaiidae. It is endemic to Borneo and inhabits montane forests in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia, and Kalimantan, Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Painted treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The painted treeshrew is a treeshrew species of the family Tupaiidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Large treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The large treeshrew is a treeshrew species within the Tupaiidae. It is native to Sumatra and adjacent small islands, as well as in the lowlands and hills of Borneo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mindanao treeshrew</span> Species of mammal

The Mindanao treeshrew, also called the Philippine tree shrew, is a species of treeshrew endemic to the Mindanao region in the Philippines. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus Urogale, but that genus was merged into Tupaia when the species was found to nest within the latter genus in a molecular phylogeny. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett.

<i>Tupaia</i> (mammal) Genus of mammals

Tupaia is a treeshrew genus in the family Tupaiidae that was first described by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1821. The name of this genus derives from the Malay word tupai meaning squirrel or small animal resembling a squirrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupaiidae</span> Family of mammals

Tupaiidae is one of two families of treeshrews, the other family being Ptilocercidae. The family contains three living genera and 19 living species. The family name derives from tupai, the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel which tupaiids superficially resemble. The former genus Urogale was disbanded in 2011 when the Mindanao treeshrew was moved to Tupaia based on a molecular phylogeny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primatomorpha</span> Order of mammals

Primatomorpha is a proposed mirorder of mammals containing the orders Dermoptera and Primates. Primatomorpha is sister to Scandentia, together forming the Euarchonta.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cassola, F. (2016). "Ptilocercus lowii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T41491A22278277. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T41491A22278277.en . Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Helgen, K.M. (2005). "Ptilocercus lowii". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. Wiens, F.; Zitzmann, A.; Lachance, M.-A.; Yegles, M.; Pragst, F.; Wurst, F. M.; von Holst, D.; Guan, S. L. & Spanagel, R. (2008). "Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild tree-shrews". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 105 (30): 10426–10431. Bibcode:2008PNAS..10510426W. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0801628105 . PMC   2492458 . PMID   18663222.
  4. 1 2 Janečka; J. E.; Miller, Thomas W.; Pringle, H.; Wiens, F.; Zitzmann, A.; Helgen, K. M.; Springer, M. S.; Murphy, W. J (2007). "Molecular and Genomic Data Identify the Closest Living Relative of Primates". Science. 318 (5851): 792–794. Bibcode:2007Sci...318..792J. doi:10.1126/science.1147555. PMID   17975064. S2CID   12251814.
  5. Roberts, T.E.; Lanier, H.C.; Sargis, E.J.; Olson, L.E. (2011). "Molecular phylogeny of treeshrews (Mammalia: Scandentia) and the timescale of diversification in Southeast Asia". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 60 (3): 358–372. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.04.021. PMID   21565274.