Mammals of the WorldNorthern Treeshrew
Tupaia belangeri
- Order
- Scandentia
- Family
- Tupaiidae
- Genus
- Tupaia
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- China|Nepal|Bhutan|India|Bangladesh|Myanmar|Thailand|Vietnam|Cambodia|Laos
- Realm
- Indomalaya
Other names: Chinese Treeshrew
About this species
- Weight
- About 0.2kg
- Diet
- Includes chilli peppers; it is the only mammal besides humans known to eat spicy food willingly
- Range
- Southeast Asia
The northern treeshrew is a small treeshrew of Southeast Asia, weighing about 200 g as an adult. A telemetry study found that its body temperature swings from about 35 °C at night to about 40 °C by day, a larger daily difference than in other endotherms (Wikipedia, general species account).
Besides humans, it is the only mammal known to eat spicy food willingly, thanks to a genetic mutation that makes it far less sensitive to capsaicin. The maximum recorded longevity is 11 years. Its eyes resemble human eyes more closely than those of rodents do, so it has been widely used as a model in vision and liver-disease research (Wikipedia, general species account).
Description: Wildlife of Thailand guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)