25-11-2015 SINGAPORE - PLANTAIN SQUIRREL (Callosciurus notatus)

The plantain squirrel, oriental squirrel or tricoloured squirrel (Callosciurus notatus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand in a wide range of habitats: forests, mangroves, parks, gardens, and agricultural areas. Fruit farmers consider them to be pests.

Its body is about 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long with a similar-sized tail. It is greyish/brown with a chestnut belly and a black and white stripe on the side. It is very quick and agile in trees, able to jump a few metres between trees, and rarely wanders on the ground.

Its diet consists mostly of leaves and fruits, but it also eats insects and bird eggs. It is known to break open twigs that contain ant larvae to eat them. It can eat fruits much bigger than itself, such as mangoes, jackfruit, or coconuts.

The genus name Callosciurus means "beautiful squirrel". Kloss's squirrel (Callosciurus albescens) is sometimes considered a subspecies.

Callosciurus notatus is found throughout the Oriental Region, including the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, mainland southern Thailand, and other southeast Asian islands.

Plantain squirrels can be found in many different tropical environments. They are arboreal, and found in plantations, scrub forests, gardens, rainforests, and mangrove forests. In inland forests they use both secondary and primary forests, but most activity is seen in the lower to middle stories. One study shows these squirrels at elevations from 500-1100 m, but they were found most often at 800 m. They have become urbanized in Singapore.

Multiple males compete in mating bouts for an estrus female. Usually 5 to 7 males compete in a single female’s home range. In the end, 2 to 4 males end up mating with a female. During this mating process, males communicate through barks and chasing. Vaughan et al. (2000) suggest a related Malaysian tree squirrel species, Calloscriurus caniceps, imitates predator calls to stop movements of the female and other males after copulation. By reducing their movements, these squirrels increase the probability of fertilization. This related species uses these calls for 30-35 minutes. Tamura et al. (1993) note that Callosciurus notatus, in contrast, only uses the call for 0.5-8.0 minutes.