Meaning of tupaiid | Babel Free

Definitions

Any of the family Tupaiidae of tree shrews.

Examples

“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⟳.”

“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).”

“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.”

CEFR level