Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Euarchontoglires
Ordo: Rodentiaa
Subordo: Sciuromorpha
Familia: Sciuridae
Subfamilia: Ratufinae
Genus: Ratufa
Species: R. affinis – R. bicolor – R. indica - R. macroura
Name
Ratufa J. E. Gray, 1867
Type species: Sciurus indicus Erxleben, 1777
Synonyms
Rukaia J. E. Gray, 1867. Type species: Sciurus macrourus Pennant, 1769
Eosciurus Trouessart, 1880. Type species: Sciurus bicolor Sparrman, 1778
References
Gray, J. E. 1867. Synopsis of the Asiatic Squirrels (Sciuridse) in the Collection of the British Museum, describing one new Genus and some new Species. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Third Series, 20: 270–286.
Trouessart, É. L. 1880. Genre Sciurus, L.. Le Naturaliste, 1 (37): 291.
Links
Ratufa in Mammal Species of the World.
Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (Editors) 2005. Mammal Species of the World – A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4.
Ratufa Gray, 1867 – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Vernacular names
English: Giant squirrel, Oriental giant squirrel
polski: Wiewióra
svenska: jätteekorrar
ไทย: พญากระรอก
Oriental giant squirrels are cat-sized tree squirrels from the genus Ratufa in the subfamily Ratufinae. They are a distinctive element of the fauna of south and southeast Asia.
Species
There are four living species of oriental giant squirrels:
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Cream-coloured giant squirrel | Ratufa affinis | Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra (Indonesia), Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia) |
 |
Black giant squirrel | Ratufa bicolor | Northern Bangladesh, northeast India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan, southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and western Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Bali and nearby small islands) |
 |
Indian giant squirrel | Ratufa indica | India. |
 |
Grizzled giant squirrel | Ratufa macroura | Southern India, Sri Lanka |
In prehistoric times this lineage was more widespread. For example, animals very similar to Ratufa and possibly belonging to this genus, at least belonging to the Ratufinae, were part of the early Langhian (Middle Miocene, some 16–15.2 million years ago) Hambach fauna of Germany.[1]
Skeleton of a Ratufa species
References
Gee, Carole T.; Sander, P. Martin; Petzelberger, Bianka E .M. (2003). "A Miocene rodent nut cache in coastal dunes of the Lower Rhine Embayment, Germany". Palaeontology. 46 (6): 1133–1149. doi:10.1046/j.0031-0239.2003.00337.x.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
