Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

 

Size: up to 23-35.6 cm in length (head to tail)

Weight:  around 147 g.

 

Key Features: key physical features include the stripes on the back. The top coat colour ranges from greyish brown to almost black, while the head is usually greyish to reddish brown.

 

Breeding: Breeding occurs several times a year, usually with different partners each time. Females have 2 to 3 litters yearly. Litter sizes range from 1 to 5, with 3 being the norm. Females have a gestation period of 40 to 45 days.

 

Diet: feeds on seeds, nuts, buds, young bark, leaves, insects, flowers, and grubs. They have also been known to eat baby birds.

 

Habitat: found in grasslands, scrublands, plantations, and tropical to subtropical dry deciduous forests.

 

Habits: They are gregarious, living with up to 10 other individuals in the same tree. They are very active animals, spending much of their day foraging for food. They are mostly arboreal but it is fairly common to see these animals foraging on the ground. Most activity, including foraging, breeding, playing, etc. occurs during daylight.

 

Conservation Status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

Distribution in the GoK: reported along the coast of Gulf of Kachchh.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Funambulus pennantii. In Animal Diversity Web, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. Retrieved on July 15, 2014 from http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Funambulus_pennantii/

 

Photo Courtesy

Anupom Sarmah, Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Five-Striped Squirrel (Funambulus pennantii)