Prevost's squirrel

Prevost's squirrel
	Typical form of Prevost's squirrel
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Callosciurus
Species:	C. prevostii
Binomial name
	Callosciurus prevostii; (Desmarest, 1822)
Subspecies
	See text
	Distribution in red

Prevost's squirrel or Asian tri-coloured squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii) is a colourful species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and nearby smaller islands, with an introduced population in northern Sulawesi. Although the Prevost's squirrel is declining in some regions because of habitat loss and hunting, the species is not considered threatened since it generally remains common and widespread.^[1] It can live in somewhat disturbed habitats and often visits plantations or gardens. It mostly feeds on plant material, especially fruits, but also takes insects.^[2]

Appearance and taxonomy

The Prevost's squirrel is a medium-sized squirrel, but one of the larger species in its range, although clearly surpassed by the

giant flying squirrels. The head-and-body of the Prevost's squirrel typically is 20–27 cm (8–11 in) long and the tail length is about the same; it weighs 250–500 g (9–18 oz).^[3] Individuals from small islands tend to be smaller in size than those from medium-small islands, but on large islands this pattern is reversed.^[2]

The dark subspecies C. p. pluto of northeast Borneo (top, middle), and the grey-tailed and orange-cheeked C. p. borneoensis from northwest Borneo (bottom)

In general, the

Banggi and nearby islands, C. p. piceus from northern Sumatra, C. p. pluto from northeastern Borneo and C. p. rufonigra from Labuan are black above, including tail, thighs and cheeks, and rich rufous below (no whitish to thighs, flanks or cheeks).^[3]^[4]^[6]

As many as 44 subspecies have been named for the Prevost's squirrel,

synonyms of these subspecies or as undefined synonyms (synonyms of the species but not associated with any subspecies).^[7] In 2012, 32 subspecies were recognized in Squirrels of the World.^[4] The situation is particularly complex in Borneo.^[6] There has been no recent detailed taxonomic review and it remains unclear how many subspecies should be recognized.^[2]

Behaviour

The Prevost's squirrel is active during the day and mostly stays in trees, only occasionally moving on the ground.[5] The 1–3 young are born after a gestation that lasts around seven weeks.^[2] The nest is made of sticks, bark and grass.^[6]

Feeding

This squirrel eats fruits, nuts, seeds, buds, flowers, insects and bird eggs.^[8] They have been observed feeding on durians such as Durio graveolens.^[9] These squirrels carry the fruits far from the tree and drop the seeds when finished with their meal. This seed distribution away from the parent plant increases survival for the fruiting plant species.^[2]