Callosciurus
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[Photo] Callosciurus prevosti from zoo Ohrada near Hlubok?? na Vltavou (by ??esk?? Bud??jovice) Czech Republic. Autor: Karakal http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Karakal

Callosciurus is a Southeast Asian genus of squirrels. Several of the species have settled on small islands, and have developed separate subspecies. In total, the genus contains 14 species and up to 300 subspieces or varieties. The genera Glyphotes, Rubrisciurus, and Tamiops are sometimes also included in Callosciurus.

Several species are very colourful; in fact, they belong to the most colourful mammals. The Pallas's squirrel has an unremarkable olive green back, but its belly is bright red. The Prevost's squirrel has a black back, white sides, and red-brown underside. The Finlayson's squirrel occurs in three varieties: red-brown, black, and pure white. The length of these squirrels is between 15 and 25 cm, not including the 8 to 25 cm long tail.

Most squirrels in Callosciurus live in tropical rain forests, but some individuals live in parks and gardens in Southeast Asian cities. In the trees, they build their nests out of plant material. The are solitary, and give birth to one to five young. Their food consists of nuts, fruits, and seeds, and also of insects and bird eggs.

The 14 species are:

Callosciurus erythraeus (Pallas 1779), Pallas's squirrel: southern China, Taiwan, Hainan, Southeast Asia
Callosciurus quinquestriatus (Anderson 1871), Anderson's squirrel: border region of Yunnan and Myanmar
Callosciurus finlaysonii (Horsfield 1824), Finlayson's squirrel: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia
Callosciurus caniceps (Gray 1842), gray-bellied squirrel: Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysian peninsula
Callosciurus inornatus (Gray 1867), inornate squirrel, Yunnan, Laos, Vietnam
Callosciurus pygerythrus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1831), Irrawaddy squirrel, Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar
Callosciurus phayrei (Blyth 1856), Phayre's squirrel: southern Myanmar
Callosciurus prevostii (Desmarest 1822), Prevost's squirrel: Malaysian penincula, Sumatra, Borneo, numerous small islands; introduced on Sulawesi
Callosciurus baluensis (Bonhote 1901), Kinabalu squirrel: northwestern Borneo
Callosciurus notatus (Boddaert 1785), plantain squirrel: Malaysian peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Lombok, numerous small islands
Callosciurus nigrovittatus (Horsfield 1824), black-striped squirrel; Malaysian peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, numerous small islands
Callosciurus adamsi (Kloss 1921), ear-spot squirrel: northwestern Borneo
Callosciurus melanogaster (Thomas 1895), Mentawai squirrel: Mentawai Islands
Callosciurus orestes (Thomas 1895), Borneo black-banded squirrel: northwestern Borneo

The Kloss squirrel (Callosciurus notatus albescens) of Sumatra is sometimes considered to be a separate species, but more often as a subspecies of the plantain squirrel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callosciurus

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