NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Philippine Tree Squirrel
Sundasciurus (Aletesciurus) philippinensis (Waterhouse, 1839)
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 Philippine tree squirrel (Sundasciurus philippinensis) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae which is endemic to the Philippines. The Philippine tree squirrel can only be found in Palawan, Bohol, Leyte and Samar and in Siargao. It is locally known as laksoy or kulagsing in the Visayan languages, like other endemic Philippine squirrels.
It was described by Waterhouse in 1839 in Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1839:117, UPLB Museum of Natural History reported.
Wikipedia contributors, Philippine tree squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:47:59.259182+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sundasciurus (Aletesciurus) philippinensis (Waterhouse, 1839)
- Name authority
- (Waterhouse, 1839)
- Common name
- Philippine Tree Squirrel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Sundasciurus
- 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
- subfamilyCallosciurinae Pocock, 1923
- genusSundasciurus Moore, 1958
- subgenusAletesciurus Moore, 1958
- speciesSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) philippinensis (Waterhouse, 1839)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sundasciurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Culion Tree SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) moellendorffi (Matschie, 1898) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Palawan Montane SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) rabori Heaney, 1979 | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Samar SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) samarensis (Steere, 1890) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Low's SquirrelSundasciurus (Sundasciurus) lowii (Thomas, 1892) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Palawan Tree SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) juvencus (Thomas, 1908) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Busuanga SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) hoogstraali (Sanborn, 1952) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brooke's SquirrelSundasciurus (Sundasciurus) brookei (Thomas, 1892) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sumatran Mountain SquirrelSundasciurus (Sundasciurus) altitudinis (Robinson & Kloss, 1916) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Palawan Tree SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) steerii (Günther, 1877) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mindanao SquirrelSundasciurus (Aletesciurus) mindanensis (Steere, 1890) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Upland SquirrelSundasciurus (Sundasciurus) tahan (Bonhote, 1908) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Slender SquirrelSundasciurus (Sundasciurus) tenuis (Horsfield, 1824) | 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=632468 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:53GB4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.