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Shrew-faced Squirrel

Rhinosciurus laticaudatus (Müller, 1840)

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 shrew-faced squirrel (Rhinosciurus laticaudatus), also known as the long-nosed squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is monotypic within the genus Rhinosciurus. It is found in forests in Peninsular Malaysia (possibly also in adjacent southern Thailand), Singapore, Sumatra and Borneo. This peculiar, terrestrial squirrel mainly feeds on insects and earthworms. It quite closely resembles a Tupaia treeshrew in appearance, but the shrew-faced squirrel can be recognized by its shorter gape, and shorter and more bushy tail.

Wikipedia contributors, Shrew-faced squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:42:33.106736+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Rhinosciurus laticaudatus (Müller, 1840)
Name authority
(Müller, 1840)
Common name
Shrew-faced Squirrel
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Sciuridae
Genus
Rhinosciurus
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.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
  12. suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
  13. familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
  14. subfamilyCallosciurinae Pocock, 1923
  15. genusRhinosciurus Blyth, 1856
  16. speciesRhinosciurus laticaudatus (Müller, 1840)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 219 records assigned to Sciuridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Southern Asia

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.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632415 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:4S9WT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.