Long-footed pointed squirrel
| Long-footed pointed squirrel | ||||||||||||
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_-_Museo_Civico_di_Storia_Naturale_Giacomo_Doria_-_Genoa,_Italy_-_DSC02509.JPG)
Preparation of the long-footed pointed squirrel in the Natural History Museum of Genoa |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tupaia longipes | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1893 |
The long-footed pointed squirrel ( Tupaia longipes ) occurs north of the range of the Kalimantan pointed squirrel ( Tupaia salatena ) in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah , in Brunei and in the adjacent Indonesian areas in northern Borneo .
features
The long-footed pointed squirrel is a large species of pointed squirrel, reaches a head-trunk length of 19 to 20 cm, has a 18 to 19 cm long tail and an average weight of 165 g. The hind feet are unusually long at 45 to 48 mm and the ears are 12 to 18 mm long. The back of the animals is uniformly colored aguti brown (i.e. the hair is banded), the belly is ivory. Like many other Tupaia species, the long-footed pointed squirrel shows light, short stripes on its shoulders.
Way of life
The long-footed pointed croissant occurs in primary and secondary forests, as well as in plantations up to heights of 900 meters. The animals are diurnal and predominantly terrestrial (ground dwelling). The territory used by an individual is about 7 to 9 hectares. Territories of males and females almost completely overlap, with those of the males being slightly larger than those of the females. The animals overcome an average distance of 1970 m every day, which was determined on the basis of individuals recaptured several times. Long-footed shrews feed mainly on ants, which can make up up to 98% of the stomach's contents. They not only eat the full insects, but also the ants' eggs, larvae and pupae. Termites are also eaten, while remains of worms, millipedes and centipedes have never been found in stomach exams. Since ants are often more numerous in plantations with suitable ground cover than in the two types of forest, the long-footed shrews are more common in plantations than in forests. The Langfus-shrews live sympatric with the Slim-tree shrews ( T. gracilis ), the dwarf tree shrews ( T. minor ) and Tana ( T. tana ), in the higher regions of its range with the Highland shrews ( T. montana ) . In primary forests, long-footed pointed squirrels are less common than the other species of pointed squirrel. Long-footed shrews probably breed all year round. As with other species of pointed squirrel, the young are left in nests and only suckled about every 48 hours. The leaf nests are on the ground and well camouflaged. They are tubular with two entrances and a nesting chamber in the middle.
Danger
The IUCN has assessed the population of the long-footed pointed squirrel as safe.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Melissa Hawkins: Family Tupaiidae (Treeshrews). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4 , pp. 242–269 (pp. 266 and 267)
- ↑ Konstans Wells, Maklarin B. Lakim and Martin Pfeiffer: Movement Patterns of rats and treeshrews in bornean rainforest inferred from mark-recapture data. Ecotropica 14, 2008, pp. 113-120
- ↑ Tupaia longipes in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2017. Posted by: Sargis, E. & Kennerley, R., 2017. Retrieved on June 14 of 2019.