The Sulawesian large-bodied tree squirrel, Rubrisciurus rubriventer, seven species of small-bodied tree squirrels in Prosciurillus, and two species of ground squirrels in Hyosciurus type a monophyletic cluster outlined by morphological traits (Moore, 1959). The identical clade has been museumbali.org recovered by analyses of mitochondrial, ribosomal, and nuclear DNA sequences, a bunch that probably developed from a single ancestral lineage that crossed the Makassar Strait from the Sunda Shelf to Sulawesi eleven.four to 10.5 million years in the past (Mercer and Roth, 2003). The upperparts of the head and body as nicely as the tail of the lectotype of Sciurus erythromelas (RMNH from Kema) is darkish brown speckled with buff and black, including the outside of the limbs. Sides of the body are marked by a whitish gray stripe above a black stripe. The underparts are reddish orange, which extends to the within of the entrance and hind limb however not to the toes, that are black, and the cheeks and throat are orange-red.

 

The Nonendemic Squirrels Reported From Sulawesi

 

Musser minimize open acorns from the 2 species of oak growing in the Tolewonu area to determine which species the squirrel preferred. Lithocarpus celebicus, the extra widespread of the 2, is a tall cover tree, or generally an emergent, occurring on flat, damp river terraces and hillsides above the river, and right here and there on larger slopes below ridgetops. This species was seen solely in tropical lowland evergreen rain forest between 30 and a thousand m alongside Musser’s transect. The different oak, Lithocarpus glutinosus, was less frequently encountered, growing on hillsides however apparently absent from wetter areas alongside stream terraces.

 

Table 47

 

Detecting dipteran larvae in wet ground and moss, and other arthropods inside soaked and compressed leaf litter on the surface, in all probability requires heightened olfactory acuity that would reduce through the prevailing ambient forest odors. The combination of the other features in the prognosis is unique to the Sulawesian floor squirrels. 1314, where it’s in contrast with skulls from different species of Prosciurillus; cranial and dental measurements are summarized in desk 38. Stomach contents reveal a food regimen of soppy fruits, seeds, and insects (tables 41, 57). Some stomachs contained unidentifiable brown or tan fruit mash from gentle fruits; others had remains of figs (the tissuelike endosperm, rubbery rind, and tiny seeds) and huge, hard pyramidal seeds from one other type of fruit. Appressed to the floor of bark and leaf stems, they feed by embedding their mouthparts into the vascular system of the tree.

 

The suite of insects dwelling in rotting wood—terrestrial termites in Rhinotermitidae, legless beetle larvae, and carpenter ant pupae—sought by Rubrisciurus was not discovered within the any of the stomachs we examined from Prosciurillus. Even amongst adults within a single geographic sample, and even in a pattern from the same assortment web site, the fur over the pinnacle and again varies in colour depth amongst individuals. Some older adults with worn pelage have darker upperparts as a result of the fur has worn past the buffy or ochraceous distal bands and the remaining black bands of the hairs provide the prevalent tone. These are 4 of the 10 species of squirrels endemic to the mainland of Sulawesi, a few of its offshore islands, and the Sangihe Archipelago lying north of the northeastern tip of Sulawesi.

 

The gradual disintegration of the Majapahit empire toward the tip of the fifteenth century allowed each the older, 14th-century kingdom of Gorontalo to achieve strength and new kingdoms to come up throughout the island. The southwestern Makassarese state of Gowa, whose ruler adopted Islam in 1605, extended his control over the northern states. Gorontalo has a varied topography, ranging from coastal flatlands to undulating hills to inland peaks that rise above 6,500 ft (2,000 metres) in elevation.

 

Judged by contents of stomachs, the food plan of P. topapuensis consists of sentimental fruits, particularly figs, some seeds, and arboreal insects (table 32). All the totally different fruits had been totally masticated, and only figs could possibly be positively identified (pieces of rind and endosperm with tiny seeds attached). The insects consisted of small adult beetles (represented by fragments of wings, elytra, legs, and sclerites), macrolepidopteran caterpillars (whole or chewed into pieces) gleaned from surfaces of leaves and bark, and cockroaches (indicated by legs, antennal segments, wings, and masticated bodies). Beetles were unusual in stomachs, however the caterpillars should be a favourite prey. Remains have been discovered in lots of stomachs, and of these one (AMNH ) was distended with large (20–30 mm long) macrolepidopteran caterpillars, lots of them nonetheless in one piece. The stomach of one other squirrel (AMNH ) was full of smaller (10–15 mm long) macrolepidopteran larvae, whole and in items.

 

Thoracic sternal plate (fig. 57B) extra elongate than in male and with much less distinct lateral apices. Broader than long; thoracic sternal plate (fig. 54B) blunt anteriorly and tapering to rounded posterior apex; mesothoracic spiracle small (0.015 mm in diameter) with one long DMsS and one DPTS of moderate size (0.11 mm) medial to spiracle. Forelegs and midlegs small every with narrow, acuminate claw; hindlegs and hind claws strong.

 

In addition to remains of fruit, a quantity of stomachs contained quite so much of bugs, most of which would be encountered in tree crowns (table 57). Macrolepidopteran larvae (caterpillars) feed on foliage and, judged by the massive numbers in stomachs, had been actively gleaned from leaf surfaces by the squirrels. Larvae of buprestid beetles reside beneath the bark of standing trees and are dug out. Along with fruit, arboreal termitid termites were in two stomachs, one with about two dozen workers and troopers, however the other packed with these bugs.