The Tree Shrew is well adapted for life in the trees.
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THE ORDER SCANDENTIA:
The tree shrews, all in one family are placed in an order of their own, Scandentia. They were formerly classed as Insectivores, and some today consider them primates of the suborder Prosimi because of certain internal similarities to the latter. All zoologists are agreed, however, that they are an intermediate between the insectivores and the lower primates, and that they form a link between the two orders, although in appearance they look like pointy-nosed squirrels.
They live in deciduous forests in southern Asia, are both arboreal and terrestrial, and consume both plant and animal matter. The longer snouted shrews tend to spend more time on the ground, probably using their noses to probe for food on the forest floor. Tree shrews tend to pair off in monogamous relationships, and live between two and three years of age in the wild. They are somewhat territorial, and use strong scent glands to mark that territory. Their main predators are snakes, birds of prey, and small carnivores.
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