The tufted priming squirrel , Rheithrosciurus genus Macrotis , is an subtle species hold up in the dull rainforests of Borneo . Few scientists have set heart on this uncommon squirrel , currentlylisted as vulnerable , though according tofolklore , the fierce squirrels have set on and killed tusked deer calledmuntjacsto eat their belly contents , liver , and heart . The squirrel hold back on a low branch , then jumps on to the back of a passing barking deer and bite its jugular , forcing the larger animal to bleed out . A eviscerate deer or domestic chicken with none of its flesh rust is a sure sign of a squirrel kill .
Tall tales by , the tropic squirrel is also remarkable in many ways . Even though it ’s only bump on one Southeast Asiatic island ( having colonize Borneo as early as 36 million years ago ) , its near living congeneric are an ocean away in South America . Its penis off-white ( or baculum ) and incisor , oddly enough , are like those of the genusSciurus , common to Eurasia and the Americas , and unlike other southeasterly Asian squirrel .
And then there ’s the stunningly big , club - shaped tail , first trace in 1867 . From head to body , the squirrel is about 35 centimetre long ( and twice as turgid as most tree squirrels ) , yet with its tail , it can see as swelled as a silvered foliage monkey that ’s over twice its sizing . The tail , which consists mostly of long fur , is sometimes used to adorn machetes of local hunters .
Over several long time , a family of researcher –Erik Meijaard of People and Nature Consulting Internationalin Jakarta , remote sensing scientist Rona Dennis , and their girl Emily Mae Meijaard of theBritish International School - Jakarta– have collected seven television camera bunker photos ofRheithrosciurus . After measure the tails and bodies of the individuals in the pictures from motion - activate cameras , the trio calculated an approximative rear end volume of 130 pct relative to organic structure volume . That means the intensity of the tail is 30 per centum larger than the loudness of the body , evoke that the tufted ground squirrel has the most copious tail relative to torso size of all mammals . Theirworkwas published inTaprobanica , a diary of Asiatic biodiversity , in June .
Here are some photographic camera trap photos , one from Sarawak , Malaysia , and another from East Kalimantan , Indonesia , on the island of Borneo .
As a shaggy - dog comparison , the tail volume to dead body mass ratios are 100 percent in ring - tailed cats whose tail allow them to do cartwheel , common stripped phalanger with covetous tail , and squirrel sailplane who habituate them as rudders when glide : Their tails all busy the same loudness as their physical structure . Red squirrel are only 90 percent , and the red panda is just 40 per centum .
Maintaining something so bushy must call for some gumptious ritual killing , so surely there must be some evolutionary cause to excuse the disbursement . researcher have previously proposed various mathematical function for the stern : run from residual and temperature regularization to courtship and admonition signals .
According to this belated workplace , the most logical account for the prodigal tail is defense team against terrestrial feline predators like the Sunda befog leopard , bay cat , or marble Caterpillar . In flight , the big grey-haired tail obnubilate the actual body . This mix up the predator in pursuance , and if that does n’t mould and the wild cats pounces , the tail would probably be the target of the strike , pass on the predator with a limited grasp on the squirrel .
update July 15 , 2014 : Here are two more photographic camera cakehole photo of the elusive squirrel .
[ h / tScience ]
Images : Joseph Wolf , Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1856 viaWikimedia(top ) & Meijaard et al . , 2014 ( middle ) & Integrated Conservation ( bottom two )
