View source for Pen-tailed treeshrew

{{Short description|Species of mammal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Pen-tailed treeshrew
| image = Ptilocercus lowii.jpg
| image_caption = Illustration in 1848 [[species description]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref =<ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Ptilocercus lowii'' |author=Cassola, F. |date=2016 |page=e.T41491A22278277 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T41491A22278277.en |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref =<ref name=iucn/>
| grandparent_authority = 
| parent_authority = 
| genus = Ptilocercus
| species = lowii<ref name=msw3/>
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|J. E. Gray]], 1848
| range_map = Pen-tailed Treeshrew area.png
| range_map_caption = Pen-tailed treeshrew range
}}

The '''pen-tailed treeshrew''' ('''''Ptilocercus lowii''''') is a [[treeshrew]] of the family [[Ptilocercidae]] native to southern [[Thailand]], the [[Malay Peninsula]], [[Borneo]], and some [[Indonesia]]n islands.<ref name=iucn />

It is the only living species in the genus ''Ptilocercus''. All other treeshrew species are grouped in the family [[Tupaiidae]].<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Scandentia |pages=108–109 |id=11900070 |heading=''Ptilocercus lowii''}}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==
The pen-tailed treeshrew occurs from southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula to northern Sumatra, [[Siberut]], [[Bangka Island]] and northwestern [[Borneo]]. It inhabits foremost [[primary forest]] up to an elevation of {{cvt|1200|m}}, where undergrowth is dense.<ref name=iucn />

==Behaviour and ecology==
{{see also|Venom#Venom resistant animals}}
Pen-tailed treeshrews studied in Malaysia spent several hours per night consuming naturally [[ethanol fermentation|fermented]] [[nectar]] of the [[Eugeissona|bertam palm]]. This nectar contains one of the highest alcohol concentrations of all natural foods. The pen-tailed treeshrews did not show any signs of intoxication, although they frequently consumed large amounts of this nectar, equivalent of 10–12 glasses of wine adjusted to body weight with an alcohol content up to 3.8%. Measurements of a [[biomarker]] of [[alcohol dehydrogenase]] suggest that they may be metabolizing it by a pathway that is not used as heavily by humans. Their ability to ingest high amounts of alcohol is hypothesized to have been an [[evolutionary adaptation]]. How pen-tailed treeshrews benefit from this alcohol ingestion or what consequences of consistent high [[blood alcohol content]] might factor into their physiology is unclear.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=F. |last1=Wiens |last2=Zitzmann |first2=A. |last3=Lachance |first3=M.-A. |last4=Yegles |first4=M. |last5=Pragst |first5=F. |last6=Wurst| first6=F. M.| last7=von Holst |first7=D.| last8=Guan| first8=S. L. |last9=Spanagel| first9=R. |name-list-style=amp |title=Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild tree-shrews |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=105 |issue=30 |pages=10426–10431 |year=2008 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0801628105 |pmid=18663222 |pmc=2492458 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10510426W|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Taxonomy and evolutionary history ==
The Ptilocercidae are a family within the order [[Scandentia]]. Numerous morphological and genetic differences support the classification of the Ptilocercidae as a separate family from the rest of the treeshrews which diverged around 60 million years ago.<ref name=Janečka2007>{{cite journal |author=Janečka |author2=J. E. |author3=Miller, Thomas W. |author4=Pringle, H. |author5=Wiens, F. |author6=Zitzmann, A. |author7=Helgen, K. M. |author8=Springer, M. S. |author9=Murphy, W. J |year=2007 |title=Molecular and Genomic Data Identify the Closest Living Relative of Primates |journal=Science |volume=318 |issue=5851 |pages=792–794 |doi=10.1126/science.1147555|pmid=17975064 |bibcode=2007Sci...318..792J |s2cid=12251814 }}</ref><ref name="Roberts2011">{{cite journal|last1= Roberts|first1=T.E.|last2= Lanier|first2=H.C.|last3= Sargis|first3=E.J.|last4= Olson|first4=L.E.|title= Molecular phylogeny of treeshrews (Mammalia: Scandentia) and the timescale of diversification in Southeast Asia|journal= Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume= 60|issue= 3|year= 2011|pages= 358–372|doi= 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.04.021|pmid=21565274|bibcode=2011MolPE..60..358R }}</ref> Treeshrews are considered very close relatives of primates, with the [[colugo]]s being  closer to primates.<ref name=Janečka2007/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.science.org/content/article/now-thats-party-animal Zelkowitz, R. 2008. Now That's a Party Animal]

{{Scandentia}}
{{Euarchontoglires|E.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q747125}}

[[Category:Mammals described in 1848]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray]]
[[Category:Mammals of Borneo]]
[[Category:Mammals of Brunei]]
[[Category:Mammals of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Thailand]]
[[Category:Treeshrews]]
[[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]


{{Mammal-stub}}