What Is The Scientific Name Of Samar Squirrel? (ANSWER)

SCIENTIFIC NAME OF SAMAR SQUIRREL – In this topic, we are going to know and identify the scientific name of Samar squirrel.

Also known as lalagsing, it is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Scuridae, The species is endemic to the Philippines.

It is also recorded from Samar and Leyte Islands, in which the former is where it got its name from. It naturally lives in subtropical or tropical dry forests.

The species fall under the least concern category in the IUCN Red List. Despite this, the species is threatened by habitat loss, due to expanding human activities, hunting, and the lack of basic knowledge about the species.

The squirrel thrive in primary and secondary lowland and montane forest, which also includes edges of mossy forest. It can be also found in some agricultural areas.

Answer

The binomial name of Samar Squirrel is Sundasciurus samarensis.

Sundasciurus is a genus of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is a combination of the word Sunda, which probably refer to the Sunda Islands, and the Latin term sciurus, which means ‘squirrel‘, forming the name ‘Sunda squirrel‘.

The specific name samarensis, on the other hand, is the Latin term for “of Samar“, in reference to its location in Samar.