The Bornean smooth-tailed treeshrew (''Dendrogale melanura'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

treeshrew The treeshrews (also called tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia (from Latin ''scandere'', "to climb"), which split into two families: the ...

in the family

Tupaiidae Tupaiidae is one of two families of treeshrews, the other family being Ptilocercidae. The family contains three living genera and 19 living species. The family name derives from ''tupai'', the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel which ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

or tropical dry

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Description

The head and body length of the species is , with tail length . The body mass is about . Upper parts of the small body are dark brown, while the under parts are orange-buff with gray bases, and shiny black with reddish streaking along the sides. It has a short snout, with large ear flaps. Prominent orange-brown rings exist around the eyes, with weakly marked facial streaks present on both side of the face, extending from the snout to ears. No shoulder streaks are present. The claws are notably sharp. The thin tail is covered with fine, smooth hair, with darkening towards the tip. ''D. m. melanura'' has darker colour above and more reddish below than ''D. m. baluensis''.Francis, C.M. & Payne, J. (2005). A field guide to the mammals of Borneo. Malaysia: Sabah Society

Habitat

''D. melanura'' is a terrestrial species. They are diurnal and predominantly

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

. Live in evergreen

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

, which active in mossy trees and on rocky boulders in submontane and montane pristine forest. This species seems to feed predominantly on

insects Insects (from Latin ') are 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 of jointed ...

Distribution

The species is

, restricted in the mountains of the northwest above , including the mountain of northeastern

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

, Gunung Kinabalu, and Gunung Trus Madi in

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

. ''D. m. melanura'' is recorded from Gunung Dulit, Gunung Mulu, and the Kelabit uplands in northern Sarawak, and from the Sabah-Sarawak border. Meanwhile, ''D. m. baluensis'' is recorded from Gunung Kinabalu and Gunung Trus Madi in Sabah.

Status

This species is listed as data deficient because it has not been recorded since the early 1970s; it was formerly listed as Vulnerable from 1996 to 2008. The major threats for this species are

loss of habitat Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

due to the

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land ( arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and e ...

and conversion of land to nontree plantations at lower elevations. This species may warrant listing in Near Threatened or higher. The conservation actions only occur at Crocker Range National Park, Sabah, Malaysia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1766607 Treeshrews Endemic fauna of Borneo Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Malaysia Mammals described in 1892 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals of Indonesia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot