Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 27, 2026

Funambulus

Funambulus is a genus of rodents in the Sciuridae (squirrel) family, the only one in tribe Funambulini. It contains these species:Genus Funambulus Subgenus Funambulus Layard's palm squirrel — Sri Lanka Dusky palm squirrel — Sri Lanka Indian palm squirrel — Sri Lanka and mainland South Asia Nilgiri striped palm squirrel — southern Western Ghats Jungle palm squirrel — southern India, mostly Western Ghats Subgenus Prasadsciurus Northern palm squirrel — most of South Asia, stretching into the highlands of Pakistan and Iran

Last revised
May 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
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Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Funambulus
Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Subfamily: Callosciurinae
Tribe: Funambulini
Pocock, 1923
Genus: Funambulus
Lesson, 1835
Type species
Sciurus indicus
Lesson, 1835
(= Sciurus palmarum Linnaeus, 1776)
Species

Funambulus layardi
Funambulus palmarum
Funambulus pennantii
Funambulus sublineatus
Funambulus obscurus
Funambulus tristriatus

Synonyms
A squirrel apparently appearing to give a thumbs up but is actually eating maize grain. source ↗

Funambulus is a genus of rodents in the Sciuridae (squirrel) family, the only one in tribe Funambulini.1 It contains these species:23

Etymology

"Funambulus" is the Latin word for "rope-dancer".5

References

References

  1. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. Funambulus, MSW3
  3. Dissanayake, Rajith; Oshida, Tatsuo (2012). "The systematics of the dusky striped squirrel, Funambulus sublineatus (Waterhouse, 1838) (Rodentia: Sciuridae) and its relationships to Layard's squirrel, Funambulus layardi Blyth, 1849". Journal of Natural History. 46 (1–2): 91–116. Bibcode:2012JNatH..46...91D. doi:10.1080/00222933.2011.626126.
  4. Rajith Dissanayake. 2012. The Nilgiri striped squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus), and the dusky striped squirrel (Funambulus obscurus), two additions to the endemic mammal fauna of India and Sri Lanka. Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine Small Mammal Mail. Vol 3(2):6-7
  5. Simpson, D.P. (2002). Cassell's Latin English Dictionary (Reprint ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-02-013340-7.