biology

Northern treeshrew

Northern treeshrew is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Northern treeshrew rather than just read about it. In short: The northern treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri) is a treeshrew species native to Southeast Asia. In 1841, the German zoologist Johann Andreas Wagner first used the specific name Cladobates belangeri for treeshrews that had been collected in Pegu during a French expedition to Southeast Asia.

Key takeaways

Northern treeshrew belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Northern treeshrew to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Northern treeshrew from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The northern treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri) is a treeshrew species native to Southeast Asia. In 1841, the German zoologist Johann Andreas Wagner first used the specific name Cladobates belangeri for treeshrews that had been collected in Pegu during a French expedition to Southeast Asia. These specimens were described by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1834 in whose opinion they did not differ sufficiently from Tupaia tana to assign a specific rank.

Characteristics

Results of a telemetry study involving northern treeshrews showed that their body temperature varies from 35 °C (95 °F) during the night to 40 °C (104 °F) during the day. This difference is larger than in other endotherms, and indicates that the circadian rhythms of body temperature and locomotor activity are synchronized. Adults weigh 0.2 kg (0.44 lb). The maximum longevity of the northern treeshrew is 11 years. Besides humans, the northern treeshrew is the only mammal known to willingly consume spicy food. This is due to a genetic mutation rendering it much less sensitive to the effects of capsaicin.

Phylogeny Complete mitochondrial genome data support the hypothesis of a closer phylogenetic relationship of Tupaia to rabbits than to primates. This is however disputed by the more recent full genome sequencing data that places the species closer to primates (divergence ~90.9 million years ago) than to lagomorphs and rodents (~96.4 Million years ago).

In medical research The northern treeshrew has attained growing interest for use as a medical model. In 2002, an article was published describing that its primary hepatocytes could be used as a model for studying the hepatitis C virus, which is a major cause of chronic hepatitis worldwide. It was also used in studies on the development of photo reception, investigation of retinal cones, and refractive state and ocular component dimensions of the eye. Many studies have been conducted regarding eye structure, development, and vision using the northern treeshrew model because of the similarity to human eye structure and sight that is uncharacteristic of conventional small lab animals, such as rodents.

References

External links View the tree shrew genome in Ensembl View the tupBel1 genome assembly in the UCSC Genome Browser Data of the genome of Tupaia belangeri, via NCBI Data of the genome assembly of Tupaia belangeri (version ASM18137v1), via NCBI

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Northern treeshrew

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Northern treeshrew claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Northern treeshrew before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Northern treeshrew ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Northern treeshrew

In research: Northern treeshrew appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Northern treeshrew in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Northern treeshrew is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fauna listed on CITES Appendix II, IUCN Red List least concern species, Mammals described in 1841, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Northern treeshrew outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Northern treeshrew in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Northern treeshrew means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Northern treeshrew out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Northern treeshrew in simple terms?

Why does Northern treeshrew matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Northern treeshrew?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Northern treeshrew.