Indian giant squirrel explained

The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel.

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to India, with main sections of its distribution in the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Satpura Range as far north as Madhya Pradesh (approximately 22° N). It is found at altitudes of in tropical deciduous, semi-deciduous (where often utilizing denser riparian growth), and moist evergreen forests and woodlands.^[1] In general, its distribution is fragmented because it is intolerant of habitat degradation. The Indian giant squirrel generally nests in taller trees with a mean height of (± SD) in order to avoid predators.^[2]

Description

The Indian giant squirrel is one of the largest squirrels, with a head–and–body length of, a tail that is about the same or somewhat longer, and a weight of, although rarely up to .^{[3] [4]} Average for both sexes is about in head–and–body length, in tail length and in weight.^[1]

It has a conspicuous one-, two-, or three-toned colour scheme. The colours involved can be whitish, creamy-beige, buff, tan, rust, reddish-maroon, brown, dark seal brown, or black.^[1] The underparts and the front legs are usually cream coloured, and the head can be brown or beige, and there is a distinctive white spot between the ears. Otherwise the colours depend on the subspecies.^[1]

Subspecies

Ten subspecies have been described,^[4] but recent authorities generally recognise four:^{[1] [5]}

• R. i. indica: Found in the northern and central Western Ghats from around Mumbai to Karnataka. Its upper parts and basal half of the tail are rich reddish-maroon or reddish-brown; the distal part of the tail is whitish or buff.^{[1] [4]} On occasion there can be some black at the shoulder or at the very base of the tail (features typically associated with other subspecies).^[4] A few other subspecies have been described within its range based on variations in size, overall colour hue and width of the pale tail-tip,^[4] but recent authorities generally regard them as synonyms of R. i. indica.
• R. i. centralis: From central and eastern India, notably in the Satpura Range and Eastern Ghats (all other subspecies are from the Western Ghats region). It is relatively small and further differs from R. i. indica by its black shoulder region, black tail except for the pale tip, and sometimes black rump.^{[1] [4]}
• R. i. dealbata: Found in southern Gujarat (far northern Western Ghats region),^[4] but recent surveys have failed to locate it, and it is possibly extinct.^[1] A highly distinctive pale subspecies that is overall creamy-buff with a whitish tail and brown ears.^[4] It should not be confused with true albinos, rarely recorded in the Indian giant squirrel, which are whiter and have pink eyes unlike R. i. dealbata.^[6]
• R. i. maxima: From southern Western Ghats. It resembles a large R. i. centralis, but with more extensive black in the shoulder region and on the rump, and an almost entirely black tail (no pale tip). There is often a black dorsal stripe connecting the black shoulder region and rump. Another subspecies, R. i. bengalensis, has been described from southern Karnataka and northern Kerala, in between R. i. indica and R. i. maxima. It generally resembles R. i. indica, but the tail is black except for its pale tip and sometimes it has black shoulders, thus approaching R. i. maxima or R. i. centralis.^[4] Its intermediate appearance and distribution has caused some questions about its validity; it could be regarded as an intergrade and recent authorities often treat it as a synonym of R. i. maxima.^[5]

Ratufa indica taxonomy

Subspecies	Authority	Synonyms
R. i. indica	Erxleben, 1777^[7]	bombaya, elphinstoni, purpureus, superans
R. i. centralis	Ryley, 1913^[8]	none
R. i. dealbata	Blanford, 1897	none
R. i. maxima	Schreber, 1784^[9]	bengalensis, malabarica

Behaviour

The Indian giant squirrel is an upper-canopy dwelling species, which rarely leaves the trees, and requires "tall profusely branched trees for the construction of nests." It travels from tree to tree with jumps of up to 6m (20feet). When in danger, the Indian giant squirrel often freezes or flattens itself against the tree trunk, instead of fleeing. Its main predators are the birds of prey like owls^[10] and the leopard. This giant squirrel is mostly active in the early hours of the morning and in the evening, resting in the midday. They are typically solitary animals that only come together for breeding. The species is believed to play a substantial role in shaping the ecosystem of its habitat by engaging in seed dispersal.^[11] The diet includes fruit, flowers, nuts and tree bark. They may also eat insects and bird eggs.^[12]

Family life

The Indian giant squirrel lives alone or in pairs. They build large globular nests of twigs and leaves, placing them on thinner branches where large predators can't get to them. These nests become conspicuous in deciduous forests during the dry season. An individual may build several nests in a small area of forest which are used as sleeping quarters, with one being used as a nursery.

Reproduction

Captive breeding of the Malayan giant squirrel, a close relative has indicated births in March, April, September and December. The young weigh 74.5 g at birth and have a length of 27.3 cm. In Canara, the Indian Giant Squirrel has been spotted with young in March.

Recognition

The Indian giant squirrel (shekaru in Marathi) is the state animal of the state of Maharashtra in western India.^[13]

See also

• Indian giant flying squirrel
• Seshachalam Hills biosphere

Further reading

• • • • • Koli . Vijay Kumar . Bhatnagar . Chhaya . Mali . Dilip . Gliding behaviour of Indian giant flying squirrel Petaurista philippensis Elliot . Current Science . 2011 . 100 . 10 . 1563–1568 . 24076679 .
• Srinivas . V. . Venugopal . P. Dilip . Ram . Sunita . Site occupancy of the Indian giant squirrel Ratufa indica (Erxleben) in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India . Current Science . 2008 . 95 . 7 . 889–894 . 24103186 .
• Jathanna . Devcharan . Kumar . N. Samba . Karanth . K. Ullas . Measuring Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) abundance in southern India using distance sampling . Current Science . 2008 . 95 . 7 . 885–888 . 24103185 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190403150614/http://repository.ias.ac.in/89462/1/23P.pdf . 3 April 2019 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Thorington, R.W. Jr. . J.L. Koprowski . M.A. Steele . J.F. Whatton . 2012 . Squirrels of the World . 26–27 . Johns Hopkins University Press . Baltimore . 978-1-4214-0469-1 .
2. Pradhan . A.K. . Shrotriya . S. . Rout . S.D. . Dash . P.K. . Nesting and feeding habits of the Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) in Karlapat wildlife sanctuary, India . Animal Biodiversity and Conservation . 2017 . 40 . 1 . 63–69 . 10.32800/abc.2017.40.0063 . free . 11 September 2020 . 20 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201020024902/http://abc.museucienciesjournals.cat/files/ABC_40-1_pp_63-69.pdf . live .
3. Book: Nowak, R.M.. 1999 . Walker's Mammals of the World . 2 . 6 . 1274–1275 . 978-0-8018-5789-8 .
4. Abdulali, H. . J.C. Daniel . 1952 . Races of the Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) . Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society . 50 . 469–474 .
5. Book: Corbet . Gordon Barclay . Hill . John Edwards . The mammals of the Indomalayan Region: a systematic review . 1992 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 0-19-854693-9. 25281229.
6. Abdulali, H. . J.C. Daniel . 1953 . A colour variation, and albinism in the giant squirrel Ratufa indica . The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society . 51 . 731 .
7. Book: Erxleben. Johann Christian Polykarp . Systema regni animalis per classes, ordines, genera, species, varietates cum synonymia et historia animalium. Classis I. Mammalia.. Animal kingdom system by class, order, genus, species, varieties with synonyms and animals' history. Class I. Mammalia.. 42. 1777. Impensis Weygandianis . Leipzig, Germany . la . 14843832.
8. Ryley. Kathleen V. . 1913. Scientific results from the mammals survey . Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 22. 434–443. Bombay Natural History Society . Mumbai, India . 0006-6982. 1536710.
9. Book: Schreber. Johann Christian Daniel von . Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen . The Mammals in illustrations after nature, with descriptions . 3. 1792. Chapter on The Squirrel first published in 1784. Wolfgang Walther . Erlangen . de . 16860541. The Squirrel . Der Springer.
10. Kannan, R. (1994). Forest Eagle Owl (Bubo nipalensis Hodgson)--a predator of the Indian Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 91: 454
11. Web site: Ratufa indica: Indian Giant Squirrel . Justice . James . . 4 November 2015 . 5 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305001537/http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ratufa_indica/ . live .
12. Web site: Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) . Arkive . 25 February 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120113101000/http://www.arkive.org/indian-giant-squirrel/ratufa-indica/video-08.html . 13 January 2012 .
13. Web site: List of Indian States and their Symbols. 2017-08-14. jagranjosh.com. 2019-10-17. 17 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191017192920/https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/list-of-indian-states-and-their-symbols-1482840512-1. live.