Tupaia (genus)

Tupaia is a genus of treeshrew in the Tupaiidae family.^[1]

The genus was first described by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1821, as having an elongated snout, 8 to 10 incisors, well developed limbs, five-toed naked feet, and the sole furnished with projecting pads and sharp claws, with a habit and tail of a squirrel.^[2]

When Diard and Duvaucel described the first specimen of the Common Treeshrew Tupaia glis in 1820, they considered it a species of Sorex.^[3]

Subsequent to Raffles description of the genus, the following Tupaia species were described:

• Large Treeshrew Tupaia tana — by Raffles in 1821^[2]
• Horsfield's Treeshrew Tupaia javanica — by Horsfield in 1822
• Northern Treeshrew Tupaia belangeri — by Wagner in 1841
• Striped Treeshrew Tupaia dorsalis — by Schlegel in 1857
• Ruddy Treeshrew Tupaia splendidula — by Gray in 1865
• Nicobar Treeshrew Tupaia nicobarica — by Zelebor in 1869
• Pygmy Treeshrew Tupaia minor — by Günther in 1876
• Mountain Treeshrew Tupaia montana — by Thomas in 1892
• Painted Treeshrew Tupaia picta — by Thomas in 1892
• Slender Treeshrew Tupaia gracilis — by Thomas in 1893
• Long-footed Treeshrew Tupaia longipes — by Thomas in 1893
• Palawan Treeshrew Tupaia palawanensis — by Thomas in 1894
• Calamian Treeshrew Tupaia moellendorffi — by Matschie in 1898
• Golden-bellied Treeshrew Tupaia chrysogaster — by Miller in 1903
• †Tupaia miocenica — by Mein and Ginsburg in 1997

References