NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Pale Giant Squirrel
Ratufa affinis (Raffles, 1821)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The cream-coloured giant squirrel or pale giant squirrel (Ratufa affinis) is a large tree squirrel in the genus Ratufa found in forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra (Indonesia), Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia) and nearby small islands. The species is near threatened and vulnerable to habitat degradation, and it has probably been extirpated in Singapore where the last sighting was in 1995. Reported sightings in Vietnam in 1984 are considered to be dubious.
Wikipedia contributors, Cream-coloured giant squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:16:54.902302+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ratufa affinis (Raffles, 1821)
- Name authority
- (Raffles, 1821)
- Common name
- Pale Giant Squirrel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Ratufa
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
- familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
- subfamilyRatufinae Moore, 1959
- genusRatufa Gray, 1867
- speciesRatufa affinis (Raffles, 1821)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ratufa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Giant SquirrelRatufa indica (Erxleben, 1777) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black Giant SquirrelRatufa bicolor (Sparrman, 1778) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sri Lankan Giant SquirrelRatufa macroura (Pennant, 1769) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632410 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4RM84. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.