Intl. J. of Mol. Evol. and Biodivers. 2013, Vol. 3, No.1, 1-4
http://ijmeb.sophiapublisher.com
1
Research Report Open Access
Genomic Evidence Supported Treeshrew is Closely Related to Primates
Paul A. Young
Animal Group, Saunders Institute at BC, Canada
Corresponding author email:
Paul.A.Young@ Saundersinstitute.com;
International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity, 2013, Vol.3, No.1 doi: 10.5376/ijmeb.2013.03.0001
Received: 10 Mar., 2013
Accepted: 13 Mar., 2013
Published: 21 Mar., 2013
Copyright © 2013 Young, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Young P.A., 2012, Genomic Evidence Supported Treeshrew is Closely Related to Primates, International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity,
Vol.3, No.1, 1~4 (doi: 10.5376/ijmeb.2013.03.0001)
Abstract
The evidence of the latest whole genome sequencing data supported that tree shrews are neither Insectivora nor primate
mammals, but they are closely related to primates, and clarified the ongoing controversy regarding the phylogenetic position of tree
shrews. It can be said with certainty that tree shrews are small primitive mammals which belong to the Order Scandentia in
Euarchontoglires, with a close relationship to primates.
Keywords
Reeshrews; Insectivores; Primates; Scandentia; Euarchontoglires; Genomic evidence
Introduction
Treeshrew is a kind of small mammals native to the
tropical regions of Southeast Asia and South Asia
(
Figure 1). Since trees hrews and squirrels share many
common morphological features and behavioral
characteristics, Tupaiia, the genus name for tree shrew,
is derived from tupai which is a Malay word used by
the Malaysian for both tree shrews and squirrels
(
Martin, 1990). All trees hrews have some common
features including relatively small body mass,
generally omnivorous (eating arthropods and fruits),
and a skeleton which has an unspecialized placental
mammalian pattern, all digits have claws, and the
hands and feet are not prehensile (Martin, 1990). For
nearly a century (since 1922), the taxonomic status of
tree shrews has been unsolved (Young, 2011).
1
Do tree shrews belong to insectivore?
Some scholars believe that tree shrews should be
classified into the Insectivora order according to
characteristics of tree shrew’s morphology (longer
snout, digits (toe) being claw, the number of teeth) and
features of feeding habits similar to insectivors. The
order Insectivora is made up of elephant-shrews,
shrews, hedgehogs, tenrecs, moles, and possibly
tree-shrews. Also it was suggested that the order
Insectivora should be divided into the suborders
Menotyphla (elephant-shrews and tree-shrews) and
Figure 1 Photos of tree shrews; A: Common tree shrew (
Tupaia
glis
);
B: Northern tree shrew (
Tupaia belangeri
) (
Courtesy:
Wikipedia)
Lipotyphla (shrews, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and moles)
(
Haeckel, 1866; Weber, 1928; Martin, 1990). It has
been noted that, compared to other members of the
Insectivores, tree shrews have very primitive
characteristics of placental mammal (Carlsson, 1922;
cited in Martin, 1990), so tree shrews were recognized
as a senior insectivores in rank (Martin, 1990).
Insectivora was later found to be a multiple
phylogenetic clade, Its members have become
independent or been placed in other orders one after
another, and eventually the order Insectivora was
canceled (Hutterer et al., 2005; Young, 2011).
2
Do tree shrews belong to primate?
Some scholars suggested that tree shrews should be
classified into suborder Prosimii under Primates based