Tamiops fossil map
Where fossils of Tamiops have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 11.63–5.09 million years ago (Tortonian to Zanclean) |
| Periods | Neogene |
| Family | Sciuridae |
| Named by | Allen 1906 |
| Fossil records | 6 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | China |
| Rock formations | txn:41486 |
About Tamiops
Asiatic striped squirrels are a genus (Tamiops) of squirrels (Sciuridae) in the subfamily Callosciurinae. They are small striped arboreal squirrels from Asia. Their head to body length measured from 10 to 13 cm. They often are confused with other squirrels (e.f. Funambulus or Tamias). In contrast to these other squirrels, they have smaller rounded ears with white-tipped hairs. A black longitudinal stripe is present in the middle of the back, which is parallel on both sides with two pairs of pale longitudinal stripes. These pale stripes are separated by dark brownish stripes. In some countries, they are kept as pets.
The four traditionally recognized species of Asiatic striped squirrels are:
Himalayan striped squirrel, T. mcclellandii
Maritime striped squirrel, T. maritimus
Cambodian striped squirrel, T. rodolphii
Swinhoe's striped squirrel, T. swinhoei
A fifth species was described in 2022:
Minshan striped squirrel, T. minshanica
Asiatic striped squirrels can be identified by the differences in the stripe pattern. For example, in some species, the stripe of the cheek interrupts in the shoulder region and does not continue to the outermost pale stripe.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Asiatic striped squirrel (revision 1359118863), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q811634.
