tree shrew definition of tree shrew in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

tree shrew, small, arboreal mammal mammal, an animal of the highest class of vertebrates, the Mammalia. The female has mammary glands, which secrete milk for the nourishment of the young after birth.
..... Click the link for more information. of the family Tupaiidae, found in S Asia. The 17 known species of tree shrews are classified as the order Tupaioidea or Scandentia. Tree shrews superficially resemble squirrels, and are commonly brown, gray, or olive in color. They have large eyes, good vision, and can use their clawed forepaws effectively for holding food. Tree shrews are territorial, omnivorous, and extremely active; they dart about constantly in the trees screaming and fighting with one another. The common tree shrew, Tupais glis, looks like a squirrel with an elongated, shrewlike snout. Its body is about 8 in. (20 cm) long, and it has a bushy tail about 6 in. (15 cm) long. It is found from India to Malaysia. The pen-tailed tree shrew, Ptilocercus lowi, of Sumatra, Borneo, and the Malay Peninsula is the most distinctive tree shrew; it is a mouse-sized nocturnal animal, dark gray above and yellow below, with a naked, black tail bearing two fringes of white hair at the tip. Tree shrews bear some anatomical resemblance to both the true shrew shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding the tail, and the largest are about 6 in. (15 cm) long.
..... Click the link for more information. , which is an insectivore insectivore (ĭnsĕk`təvōr'), term broadly given to any insect-eating animal or plant.
..... Click the link for more information. , and to the lemur lemur (lē`mər), name for prosimians, or lower primates , of two related families, found only on Madagascar and adjacent islands.
..... Click the link for more information. , which is a primate primate, member of the mammalian order Primates, which includes humans, apes , monkeys , and prosimians, or lower primates. The group can be traced to the late Cretaceous period, where members were forest dwellers.
..... Click the link for more information. . Tree shrews are now seen as a possible model for early primate behavior. They are classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata (kôrdā`tə,–dä`–)
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Scandentia, family Tupaiidae.

Bibliography

See R. D. Martin, Primate Origins and Evolution (1990).