Tupai: A Field Study of Bornean Treeshrews
Louise Emmons
Abstract
Treeshrews suffer from chronic mistaken identity: they are not shrews, and most are not found in trees. These squirrel-sized, brownish mammals with large, dark, lashless eyes were at one time thought to be primates. Even though most scientists now believe them to belong in their own mammalian order, Scandentia, they are still thought to resemble some of the earliest mammals, which lived alongside the dinosaurs. This book describes the results of the first comparative study of the ecology of treeshrews in the wild, which the author conducted in the rainforests of Borneo as she tracked and obser ... More
Treeshrews suffer from chronic mistaken identity: they are not shrews, and most are not found in trees. These squirrel-sized, brownish mammals with large, dark, lashless eyes were at one time thought to be primates. Even though most scientists now believe them to belong in their own mammalian order, Scandentia, they are still thought to resemble some of the earliest mammals, which lived alongside the dinosaurs. This book describes the results of the first comparative study of the ecology of treeshrews in the wild, which the author conducted in the rainforests of Borneo as she tracked and observed six species of treeshrews. The author meticulously describes their habitat, diet, nesting habits, home range, activity patterns, social behavior, and many other facets of their lives. She also discusses treeshrews' enigmatic parental care system, which is unique among mammals.
Keywords:
treeshrews,
mistaken identity,
lashless eyes,
Scandentia,
rainforests,
Borneo,
habitat,
diet,
nesting habits,
home range
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2000 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780520222915 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: March 2012 |
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520222915.001.0001 |
