The northern palm squirrel (''Funambulus pennantii'') also called the five-striped palm squirrel 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 ...

. Some authorities recognize two subspecies, ''F. p. pennantii'' and ''F. p. argentescens''. It is a semi-arboreal species found in tropical and subtropical dry deciduous forests and many other rural and urban habitats. It is a common species with a wide range and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Distribution

It is found in the Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands (where it was introduced),

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. In India, it is fairly common in urban areas, even in large cities such as

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

and

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. Two subspecies, ''Funambulus pennantii argentescens'' and ''Funambulus pennantii lutescens'', were suggested by

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 ...

in addition to the nominate race; however, more recent workers do not make this distinction. Thorington and Hoffman in Wilson and Reeder (2005) listed only two subspecies: ''F. p. pennantii'' and ''F. p. argentescens''. However, Ghose, et al. (2004), described two additional subspecies: ''F. p. chhattisgarhi'' (distribution: eastern part of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Bihar) and ''F. p. gangutrianus'' (distribution: West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal), but Talmale (2007) treated the Maharashtra populations as ''F. p. pennantii'' only due to the overlapping in measurements and color variations observed in the specimens. It has also been introduced to Australia where it is found in a very limited area. In

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia, there is an established population resulting from zoo escapees, and a population recorded around

Mosman, New South Wales Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local gover ...

and near

Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'. It ...

that may have become extinct. The feral populace, known locally as the ''five-lined palm squirrel'', ranges out to the suburbs surrounding the Perth Zoo and also inhabits the grounds. They give birth over a period from August to May and most intensively around the austral spring and autumn. In India, the southern boundary of the species' range is not clearly identified, and recent records suggest it may extend as far as

Madanapalli Madanapalle is a town in Annamayya Rajampeta district and Rajampet Lok Sabha constituency of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one if the largest city in the District. It is a Selection Grade Municipal City Council and located in Mada ...

. The southern boundary on the Western Ghats side clearly extends to localities including

Dharwar Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

and

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Habitat

The northern palm squirrel is a very adaptable species. It occurs in tropical and subtropical dry deciduous forest, montane forests to altitudes of , scrublands, plantations, grasslands, arable land, rural gardens and urban areas.

Status

The northern palm squirrel is a common species throughout most of its wide range. It is an adaptable species and no particular threats have been identified, and the

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Disease

These squirrels do not naturally suffer from

foot and mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...

. Tewari ''et al.'' 1976 did experimentally infect them and the resulting disease was severe. However no transmission could be induced.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1765033 Funambulus Rodents of Asia Rodents of Oceania Rodents of Australia Rodents of India Rodents of Pakistan Fauna of Iran Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Fiji Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Samoa Mammals of Tonga Mammals described in 1905 Taxa named by Robert Charles Wroughton Taxonomy articles created by Polbot