Nilgiri striped squirrel
Species of rodent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nilgiri striped squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus) is a threatened species of rodent, a small squirrel (Sciuridae) from rainforests in the southern Western Ghats, including the Nilgiris, in Peninsular India. It formerly included Funambulus obscurus from Sri Lanka as a subspecies, at which point the English name of the "combined species" also was dusky striped squirrel (a name now restricted to the Sri Lankan species).
| Nilgiri striped squirrel | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Funambulus |
| Species: | F. sublineatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Funambulus sublineatus (Waterhouse, 1838) | |
| Subspecies[2] | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Sciurus delesserti Gervais, 1841 | |
Taxonomy
Distribution
The former range of the species, before the taxonomic split, was in both India and Sri Lanka, though the Nilgiri palm squirrel (F. sublineatus) is now restricted in distribution to the Western Ghats of India.[5] Very little is known of this squirrel, probably the smallest in the genus weighing about 40g. Its new status as an endemic mammal to India means records need updating.
The species is confined to wet humid forests either in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri hills (and surrounding areas such as around Kodaikanal in India)
