Tupaia glis

Dublin Core

Title

Tupaia glis

Subject

Taxonomy
Kingdom     : Animalia
Phylum       : Chordata
Class          : Mammalia
Order         : Scandentia
Family        : Tupaiidae
Genus        : Tupaia
Species      : Tupaia glis


Common Name/ Vernacular Name 
  1. Kenchong (Malay)
  2. Kencong (Malay)
  3. Malaysian Tree Shrew (English)
  4. Tupai Moncong Besar (Malay)
  5. Common treeshrew

Description

Morphology and Physical Description
Tupaia glis has an average body weight of 142 grams, a head and body length of 19.5 cm and tail length of 16.5 cm. Its pelage is dense and dark brown on the dorsal region of the body and orange-rufous ventrally. 




Habitat and Ecology
It is usually solitary, feeding on a variety of foods including insects and other athropods, fruits, seeds and buds. They spend much time on the ground, on fallen logs or in low bushes and readily climb the tree. Common treeshrews are active during the day, and forage for food alone or in pairs, mainly on the ground, among shrubs and tree holes.






Economic Importance
Tupaia glis does not seem to have affected human economies beneficially. Tupaia glis is not even hunted by the local people as it is considered unpleasant to eat. However, T. glis has shown to be very important in research on evolution of primates. 



Species status/ Threats
threatened due to deforestation, plantation and logging. Human also hunting them for food and sport





IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Least Concern






Ecosystem Role
There is little reported in the literature on the impact that T. glis has on its environment. Some possible roles that T. glis may play in its ecosystem are as a seed disperser or population control of certain insect species. 


Creator

Tupaia glis (Diard 1820)

Publisher

Intan Rabitah Mustafa

Contributor

Intan Rabitah Mustafa

Language

English

Collection

Citation

Tupaia glis (Diard 1820), “Tupaia glis,” BIDARA, accessed July 16, 2025, https://bidara.uthm.edu.my/items/show/7.

Output Formats

Geolocation