Tupaiidae is one of two

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

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 ...

s, the other family being Ptilocercidae. The family contains three living genera and 19 living

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), ...

. The family name derives from ''tupai'', the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel which tupaiids superficially resemble. The former

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

'' Urogale'' was disbanded in 2011 when the Mindanao treeshrew was moved to ''Tupaia'' based on a molecular phylogeny. Unlike shrews, they possess a fairly large

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

for their size. While some research has found treeshrews as the closest living relative to primates, most molecular studies currently find the flying lemurs ( colugos) as the sister group to primates despite their gliding specializations.

Taxonomy

* Genus '' Anathana'' ** Madras treeshrew, ''A. ellioti'' * Genus '' Dendrogale'' ** Bornean smooth-tailed treeshrew, ''D. melanura'' ** Northern smooth-tailed treeshrew, ''D. murina'' * Genus '' Tupaia'' ** Northern treeshrew, ''T. belangeri'' ** Golden-bellied treeshrew, ''T. chrysogaster'' ** Striped treeshrew, ''T. dorsalis'' ** Mindanao treeshrew, ''T. everetti'' ** Common treeshrew, ''T. glis'' ** Slender treeshrew, ''T. gracilis'' ** Horsfield's treeshrew, ''T. javanica'' ** Long-footed treeshrew, ''T. longipes'' **

Pygmy treeshrew The pygmy treeshrew (''Tupaia minor'') is a treeshrew species within the family Tupaiidae. It is native to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The generic name is derived from the malay language, Malay word ''tupai'' meaning squirrel or small anim ...

, ''T. minor'' ** Calamian treeshrew, ''T. moellendorffi'' ** Mountain treeshrew, ''T. montana'' ** Nicobar treeshrew, ''T. nicobarica'' ** Palawan treeshrew, ''T. palawanensis'' ** Painted treeshrew, ''T. picta'' ** Ruddy treeshrew, ''T. splendidula'' ** Large treeshrew, ''T. tana''

Conservation

A majority of the species, 71.4%, in this family are of least concern, according to the IUCN red list. Nearly a twentieth of the species, 4.8%, are vulnerable and the same number are endangered. 19% of the species have not had enough data collected yet for them to be rated on the scale.

References

{{Authority control Treeshrews Mammal families Taxa named by John Edward Gray