Squirrels of the World

Callosciurus quinquestriatus 151

paler on the chin, throat, and breast; olive brown dor-
sally; and has a black tail tip.
C. p. blythii—east of the Brahmaputra River, in Bangladesh
and eastern India. The dorsal pelage varies from olive
brown mid-dorsally to buff y brown laterally. This form
has a grayish venter with a slightly buff y abdomen. It has
seasonal white or creamy hip patches.
C. p. janetta—between the Irrawaddy River and the south-
ern Chindwin River (Myanmar), and on the left bank of
the Irrawaddy River (Myanmar). This form is pale ochra-
ceous buff ventrally, and gray olive dorsally. The short
black tail tip is inconspicuous. The cream fl ash mark on
the hip is not seasonal.
C. p. lokroides—Nepal, Bhutan, and neighboring India. This
form is agouti brown dorsally, more buff y laterally, gray-
ish ventrally with a buff y abdomen, and has seasonal
buff y orange hip patches.

C. p. mearsi—east of the Chindwin River (Myanmar). This

form has an agouti dorsal pelage, ranging from buff y

brown to light brownish olive; a buff y abdomen; a buff y

eye ring; and seasonal white hip patches.

C. p. owensi—between the Brahmaputra and the upper

Chindwin rivers (Myanmar). This form is more rufous

dorsally than other subspecies in the summer, with the

middle of the back cinnamon brown and the sides light

brownish olive agouti. It has a seasonal ochraceous buff

hip patch, separated from the ventral coloration by some

of the agouti dorsal pelage.

C. p. stevensi—Xizang (China) and northeast Assam (India),

west of the upper Chindwin River. This form has an

agouti dorsal pelage, ranging from light brownish olive

to cinnamon brown. The ventral pelage is gray, and it has

seasonal buff y hip patches.

conservation: IUCN status—least concern. Population

trend—no information.

habitat: In Dampa Wildlife Reserve (Mizoram, eastern In-

dia), C. pygerythrus was obser ved more frequent ly in second-

ary forests than in primary forests, and most often around

settlements. In China, it occurs in rainforests, at elevations

of 600–1300 m, often in cane shrubs at the edge of the forest

or in banana plantations.

natural history: This squirrel utilizes tree dens or

makes grass-and-stick nests high in trees. It feeds on fruits,

the fl ower buds of bananas, and insects. This species has

been known to damage orange crops, and it has also been

attracted to a bait of meat. It frequently forages on the

ground. Females reproduce once each year, with a litter size

of three to four young.

general references: Corbet and Hill 1992; Ghosh 1981;

Moore and Tate 1965; Shankar-Raman et al. 1995.

Callosciurus quinquestriatus

(Anderson, 1871)

Anderson’s Squirrel

description: This dramatic squirrel has two white stripes

that are separated by a midventral black stripe and fl anked

by two other longitudinal black stripes on its venter. The

grizzled dorsal pelage is olive brown to olive yellow, with a

rufous tint. The tail is like the back, but annulated with black

and rufous coloration, and it has a black tip. Callosciurus

Callosciurus pygerythrus. Photo courtesy Raguib Uddin Ahmed.