English

Tupaia glis, a tupaiid

Noun

tupaiid ‎(plural tupaiids)

1. (zoology) Any of the family Tupaiidae of tree shrews.
   • 1987, F. A. Jenkins, Jr., 1: Tree Shrew Locomotion and the Origins of Primate Arborealism, John G. Fleagle (editor), Primate Evolution and Human Origins, page 2,

     Some authors rank tupaiids in a separate order Tupaioidea (Martin, 1966), while others retain them among the Primates (Napier and Napier, 1967) or 1nsectivora (Hill, 1953b).

     The uncertainty surrounding tupaiid phylogeny is a consequence of an inadequate fossil record.

   • 2007, Marc Godinot, Chapter 4: Primate Origins: A Reappraisal of Historical Data Favoring Tupaiid Affinities, Matthew J. Ravosa, Marian Dagosto (editors), Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution, page 120,

     Dental characters have proven to be of little use as there is no Paleocene tree shrew, which would show more primitive tupaiid dental characters. From the dentition of living tupaiids, one would easily infer that all of them have derived characters that prevent them from being ancestral to primates, among which [are] specializations in their dentitions or molar characters in tupaiines (see Butler, 1980).

   • 2007, George A. Feldhamer, Lee C. Drickamer, Stephen H. Vessey, Joseph F. Merritt, Carey Krajewski, Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology, 3rd Edition, page 252,

     Figure 12.16 A typical tupaiid. This common treeshrew (Tupaia glis) superficially resembles a squirrel. Tupaiids have had a confused taxonomic history—at various times being placed in the Orders Primates and Insectivora, and currently within their own order, Scandentia.