IISERTPT Squirrels of South Asia Database - Version1

Study Extent

South Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan), as well as some parts of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, China) and Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei). The introduced range of Funambulus pennantii include Australia, Iran, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Sampling

We collected data from three major sources. Traditional data sources included museum data, information from the literature and primary field data. The second source of data included records from citizen science platforms (5 platforms), and the third source of data encompassed social media platforms (14 sources). A pipeline was created for the data collection (Figure 1), and all volunteers on the project were trained to follow this in order to maintain consistency in data collection. For all data records, irrespective of source, we noted essential information like species name, location, date/year of observation, and observer/author. Media data were examined/downloaded when available. In addition to this, all other relevant data associated with each record were noted (e.g. behaviour, ecological information, etc.).

Method steps

1. 1. Sourcing records from different sources 2. Curating records and validating species identity 3. Curating records and assigning location accurately 4. Entering the data into a database

Sciuridae

1. Belomys pearsonii (Gray, 1842)
   rank: species
2. Biswamoyopterus biswasi Saha, 1981
   rank: species
3. Callosciurus erythraeus (Pallas, 1779)
   rank: species
4. Callosciurus pygerythrus (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1833)
   rank: species
5. Dremomys lokriah (Hodgson, 1836)
   rank: species
6. Dremomys pernyi (Milne-Edwards, 1867)
   rank: species
7. Dremomys rufigenis (Blanford, 1878)
   rank: species
8. Eoglaucomys fimbriatus (Gray, 1837)
   rank: species
9. Eupetaurus cinereus Thomas, 1888
   rank: species
10. Funambulus layardi (Blyth, 1849)
    rank: species
11. Funambulus obscurus (Pelzeln & Kohl, 1886)
    rank: species
12. Funambulus (Funambulus) palmarum (Linnaeus, 1766)
    rank: species
13. Funambulus (Prasadsciurus) pennantii Wroughton, 1905
    rank: species
14. Funambulus (Funambulus) sublineatus (Waterhouse, 1838)
    rank: species
15. Funambulus (Funambulus) tristriatus (Waterhouse, 1837)
    rank: species
16. Hylopetes alboniger (Hodgson, 1836)
    rank: species
17. Hylopetes phayrei (Blyth, 1859)
    rank: species
18. Marmota (Marmota) caudata (Geoffroy, 1844)
    rank: species
19. Marmota (Marmota) himalayana (Hodgson, 1841)
    rank: species
20. Petaurista petaurista albiventer (Gray, 1834)
    rank: species
21. Petaurista elegans (Müller, 1840)
    rank: species
22. Petaurista magnificus (Hodgson, 1836)
    rank: species
23. Petaurista nobilis (Gray, 1842)
    rank: species
24. Petaurista petaurista (Pallas, 1766)
    rank: species
25. Petaurista philippensis (Elliot, 1839)
    rank: species
26. Petaurista mechukaensis Choudhury, 2007
    rank: species
27. Petaurista mishmiensis Choudhury, 2009
    rank: species
28. Petinomys fuscocapillus (Jerdon, 1847)
    rank: species
29. Ratufa bicolor (Sparrman, 1778)
    rank: species
30. Ratufa indica (Erxleben, 1777)
    rank: species
31. Ratufa macroura (Pennant, 1769)
    rank: species
32. Spermophilus fulvus (Lichtenstein, 1823)
    rank: species
33. Spermophilopsis leptodactylus (Lichtenstein, 1823)
    rank: species
34. Tamiops mcclellandii (Horsfield, 1840)
    rank: species

We collected comprehensive occurrence records across the entire geographic ranges of the 34 target species. Species range across South Asian (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives) and some (16 species) ranges that extend eastward into Central Asia or East and Southeast Asia. One species of palm squirrel (Funambulus pennantii) has been introduced to the Middle-east and Australia, well outside of its native geographic range. When squirrel species in this database were found to occur in countries outside of South Asia (e.g. Central/East/Southeast Asia), their occurrence data were collected across all countries in their geographic ranges.