The horse-tailed squirrel (''Sundasciurus hippurus'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family

Sciuridae Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

. It is found throughout the islands of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

and Sumatra, as well as the southern half of the Malay Peninsula, which includes the entire nations of

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, as well as some areas of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. There was a mention of this squirrel being found in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in 1831 (I. Geoffroy, 1831), but subsequent descriptions of this squirrel's range have not included that nation.

Description

The horse-tailed squirrel is the most colorful and largest of the Sundasciurus tree squirrels. It is a medium-sized squirrel with a head-to-body length of 21.5 to 25 cm (8.5 to 9.8 in) and a tail length of 24 to 29 cm (9.4 to 11.4 in). The horse-tailed squirrel has a grizzled grey head, shoulders, forefeet and body with a whitish, dull orange, or red-brown underbelly. The tail of this squirrel is commonly a glossy black or grey banded with black.Payne, J, C.M. Francis, K Phillips. 1985. ''A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo.'' Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Society.

References

Sundasciurus Rodents of Malaysia Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Indonesia Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Brunei Mammals described in 1831 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Squirrel-stub