Pen-tailed treeshrew

Pen-tailed treeshrew
Pen-tailed treeshrew[1]
Conservation status
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Scandentia
Family: Ptilocercidae
Lyon, 1913
Genus: Ptilocercus
Gray, 1848
Species: P. lowii
Binomial name
Ptilocercus lowii
Gray, 1848
Pen-tailed Treeshrew range

The pen-tailed treeshrew (Ptilocercus lowii) is a species of treeshrew in the Ptilocercidae family. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.[2] It is the only species in the genus Ptilocercus and the family Ptilocercidae. All other treeshrews are in the family Tupaiidae.[1]

The pen-tailed treeshrew is the only known wild mammal that chronically (i.e., not just occasionally) consumes alcohol.[3] A study of the treeshrew in Malaysia found that it spends several hours consuming the equivalent of 10 to 12 glasses of wine with an alcohol content of up to 3.8% every night drinking naturally fermented nectar of the bertam palm.[3] Despite consuming relatively large amounts of alcohol, the pen-tailed treeshrew does not become intoxicated. Measurements of a biomarker of ethanol breakdown suggest that they may be metabolizing it by a pathway that is not used as heavily by humans[4], a fellow member of the grandorder of mammals Euarchonta.

References

  1. ^ a b Helgen, Kristofer M. (16 November 2005). Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3. 
  2. ^ a b Han, K. H. & Stuebing, R. (2008). Ptilocercus lowii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 30 December 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Tiny Tree Shrew Is World's Heaviest Drinker". Fox News. 2008-07-30. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,393783,00.html. 
  4. ^ Wiens, Frank; et al. (2008-07-29). "Chronic intake of fermented floral nectar by wild treeshrews". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (30): 10426–10431. doi:10.1073/pnas.0801628105. PMC 2492458. PMID 18663222. http://www.pnas.org/content/105/30/10426. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
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