Hon Khoai squirrel

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Hon Khoai squirrel
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Callosciurus
Species:
C. honkhoaiensis
Binomial name
Callosciurus honkhoaiensis
Nguyen et al., 2018

The Hon Khoai squirrel (Callosciurus honkhoaiensis) is a species of squirrel in the family Sciuridae endemic to the small island group of Hon Khoai, which is located off the Indochinese Peninsula off the coast of south Vietnam. It can be physically differentiated from other species of Callosciurus by the hairs at the tip of the tail being white with a black base, as well as the cream-colored ventral side and feet.

This species was likely separated from the mainland by the repeated glaciations and interglaciations during the Pleistocene. Its closest relative is the gray-bellied squirrel (Callosciurus caniceps), which it diverged from as early as the Pliocene. In an example of insular dwarfism, it is much smaller than its mainland relative. [1]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hon Khoai</span>

Hon Khoai is a small archipelago located about 14 kilometers south from Ca Mau province, Vietnam. It is considered to be the southernmost point of Vietnam. The Hon Khoai islands consist of the main island of Hon Khoai, the smaller island Hon Sao and the islets of Hòn Đồi Mồi, Hòn Đá Lẻ and Hòn Tương. This tiny island group is home to several endemic species, including the Hon Khoai squirrel and the psychedelic rock gecko.

References

  1. Nguyen, Son Truong; Oshida, Tatsuo; Dang, Phuong Huy; Bui, Hai Tuan; Motokawa, Masaharu (2018-06-12). "A new species of squirrel (Sciuridae: Callosciurus) from an isolated island off the Indochina Peninsula in southern Vietnam". Journal of Mammalogy. 99 (4): 813–825. doi: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy061 . ISSN   0022-2372.