The Madras treeshrew (''Anathana ellioti''), also known as the Indian treeshrew, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

treeshrew The treeshrews (or tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia, which split into two families: the Tupaiidae (19 species, "ordinary" treeshrew ...

in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus ''Anathana'' found in the hill forests of central and southern

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 ...

. The genus name is derived from the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

name of ''moongil anathaan'' (literally "bamboo squirrel") and the species name is after Sir Walter Elliot of the Indian Civil Services in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

Description

This treeshrew is 16.0 to 18.5 cm long with a tail of 16.5 to 19.5 cm. The nominate race (type locality: Eastern Ghats, Madras. British Museum 50.1.21.5) has the tail coloured like the back, the ground colour above being reddish-brown while the feet and hind legs are buff or

ochraceous Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

. The other two races have the tail coloured differently from the back. The race ''A. e. pallida'' (type locality: Manbhum, Bengal, collected by

Robert Cecil Beavan Captain Robert Cecil Beavan (1841 – 3 February 1870), corresponding member of the Zoological Society of London, served in India with the Bengal Staff Corps for 10 years. During his short life he collected specimens of birds and eggs at variou ...

British Museum 66.12.28.2) has the colour of body above reddish-brown and the feet and hind legs grizzled buffy. Race ''A. e. wroughtoni'' (type locality: Mandvi, Surat, collected by R. C. Wroughton British Museum 96.11.7.1) has the colour of body above dull grizzled brownish and the feet and hind legs grizzled greyish. Some later workers lump all the three races. Its dental formula is . The dentition is suited for an omnivorous diet. Some authors have suggested this species could be included within the genus '' Tupaia'', although most have kept the genus separate based on anatomical differences.

Distribution

The Madras treeshrew is found on the Indian Subcontinent south of the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. Three subspecies have been described — ''A. e. ellioti'' of the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

, Biligirirangan and the

Shevaroy Hills The Selvarayan hills, with the anglicised name Shevaroy Hills, are a towering mountain range (1620 m) near the city of Salem, in Tamil Nadu state, southern India. It is one of the major hill stations in Tamil Nadu and in the Eastern Ghats. The loc ...

and other hills of Southern India, ''A. e. pallida'' from Central India primarily in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

and

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of C ...

, and ''A. e. wroughtoni'' from the

Satpura Range The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and th ...

and the Dangs near Bombay. They have been reported within the Western Ghats ranges of Wayanad (Periya) and Mahabaleshwar. The northernmost record is from Garhwa district of Bihar. Little is known about the status of these populations as the distribution is patchy, but S. M. Mohnot considered them as "common" in 1975.

Behaviour and ecology

This species of treeshrew is not particularly arboreal and spends much of its time on the ground or clambering about on rocky terrain in the search of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s. It is easily separated from the squirrels in the field by the shape and color of the tail and the upward curve in which it is held when walking about. They have a behaviour of climbing up low, slanting trunks and sliding down headfirst. This may be associated with

scent marking In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less commonly) real physical aggression. A ...

, as many of the Scandentia have

scent glands Scent gland are exocrine glands found in most mammals. They produce semi-viscous secretions which contain pheromones and other semiochemical compounds. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status, territorial marking, mood, and se ...

on their throats. A species of

sucking louse Sucking lice (Anoplura, formerly known as Siphunculata) have around 500 species and represent the smaller of the two traditional superfamilies of lice. As opposed to the paraphyletic chewing lice, which are now divided among three suborders, the ...

'' Docophthirus acinetus'' is found only on this species, the genus itself being restricted to hosts in the family Tupaiidae. Endoparasitic microfiliriae have also been described from the species. The Crested Hawk-eagle (''

Nisaetus cirrhatus The changeable hawk-eagle ''(Nisaetus cirrhatus)'' or crested hawk-eagle is a large bird of prey species of the family Accipitridae. More informal or antiquated English common names include the marsh hawk-eagle or Indian crested hawk-eagle.Ferguso ...

'') has been known to prey on this tree shrew.Sirdesai, V., M. Ali, and M. S. R. Shad. 2013. Crested Hawk-eagle ''Nisaetus cirrhatus'' feeding on Madras Treeshrew ''Anathana ellioti''. Indian Birds 8(1):13.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q581371 Mammals described in 1850 Treeshrews