Treeshrew
| Treeshrews Temporal range: Middle Eocene – Recent | |
|---|---|
| Tupaia sp. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Grandorder: | Euarchonta |
| Order: | Scandentia Wagner, 1855 |
| Families | |
| Red: Tupaiidae, blue: Ptilocercidae, purple: both Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae | |
| The distribution and density of treeshrew species. | |
The treeshrews (also called tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia (from Latin scandere, "to climb"), which split into two families: the Tupaiidae (19 species, "ordinary" treeshrews), and the Ptilocercidae (one species, the pen-tailed treeshrew).
Though called 'treeshrews', and despite having previously been classified in Insectivora, they are not true shrews, and not all species live in trees. They are omnivores; among other things, treeshrews eat fruit. As fellow members of Euarchonta, treeshrews are closely related to primates, and have been used as an alternative to primates in experimental studies of myopia, psychosocial stress, and hepatitis.