Skip navigation.

tupaiid - What does it mean?

Definition of 'tupaiid'

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (zoology) Any of the family Tupaiidae of tree shrews.
  • * 1987 , F. A. Jenkins, Jr., 1: Tree Shrew Locomotion and the Origins of Primate Arborealism'', John G. Fleagle (editor), ''Primate Evolution and Human Origins , page 2,
  • Some authors rank tupaiids in a separate order Tupaioidea (Martin, 1966), while others retain them among the Primates (Napier and Napier, 1967) or 1nsectivora (Hill, 1953b).
    The uncertainty surrounding tupaiid phylogeny is a consequence of an inadequate fossil record.
  • * 2007', Marc Godinot, ''Chapter 4: Primate Origins: A Reappraisal of Historical Data Favoring '''Tupaiid Affinities'', Matthew J. Ravosa, Marian Dagosto (editors), ''Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution , page 120,
  • Dental characters have proven to be of little use as there is no Paleocene tree shrew, which would show more primitive tupaiid' dental characters. From the dentition of living ' tupaiids , one would easily infer that all of them have derived characters that prevent them from being ancestral to primates, among which [are] specializations in their dentitions or molar characters in tupaiines (see Butler, 1980).
  • * 2007 , George A. Feldhamer, Lee C. Drickamer, Stephen H. Vessey, Joseph F. Merritt, Carey Krajewski, Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology , 3rd Edition, page 252,
  • Figure 12.16 A typical tupaiid.' This common treeshrew (''Tupaia glis'') superficially resembles a squirrel. ' Tupaiids have had a confused taxonomic history—at various times being placed in the Orders Primates and Insectivora, and currently within their own order, Scandentia.