Piglet croissant

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Piglet croissant
Systematics
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Subordination : Squirrel relatives (Sciuromorpha)
Family : Squirrel (Sciuridae)
Subfamily : Squirrel (Callosciurinae)
Genre : Piglet croissant
Scientific name
Hyosciurus
Archbold & Tate , 1935

The piglet squirrels ( Hyosciurus ) are a genus of squirrels that are endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi . They are named after the trunk-like elongated noses. Other peculiarities that distinguish these squirrels from others are the short tail and the greatly enlarged claws.

features

The mountain piglet squirrel, which only lives in the central mountains of the island of Sulawesi, has a longer proboscis and larger nasal bones than the lowland piglet squirrel that occurs in the north. The mountain piglet squirrel lives at altitudes between 1500 and 2300 m, the lowland piglet squirrel between 0 and 1700 m. There are no differences in coat color; both species are dark brown on top and marked with irregular beige-brown spots. The head body length is 20 cm, plus 10 cm tail.

Way of life

Almost nothing is known about the way of life. Piglet squirrels seem to spend most of their time on the ground, moving through low vegetation in search of food. Here they also dig their burrows, for which their long claws are useful.

Other endemic squirrels of the island of Sulawesi are the Sulawesi dwarf squirrel and the Sulawesi giant squirrel .

Systematics

The piglet squirrels were first described by Richard Archbold and George Henry Hamilton Tate in 1935 . Initially, both were viewed as subspecies of the same species, but Musser 1987 granted both species status.

A distinction is made between the following two types:

Threat and protection

Because of their small range, both species are listed as endangered by the IUCN . Population numbers are unknown, however.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Guy Musser : The mammals of Sulawesi. In: Timothy C. Whitmore (Ed.): Biogeographical evolution of the Malay Archipelago (= Oxford Monographs on Biogeography. Vol. 4). Clarendon Press, Oxford 1987 ISBN 0-19-854185-6 , pp. 73-93.
  2. ^ Hyosciurus In: Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; P. 167 ff. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
  3. ^ JL Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Genus Hyosciurus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, ISBN 978- 84-941892-3-4 , p. 717.

literature

  • JL Koprowski, EA Goldstein, KR Bennett, C. Pereira Mendes: Genus Hyosciurus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, ISBN 978- 84-941892-3-4 , p. 717.
  • Hyosciurus In: Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; P. 167 ff. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .