How many baby Himalayan striped squirrels are in a litter?
A Himalayan striped squirrel (Tamiops mcclellandii) usually gives birth to around 2 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 517 grams (1.14 lbs) and measure 1.7 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Sciuridae family (genus: Tamiops). An adult Himalayan striped squirrel grows up to a size of 10.4 cm (0′ 5″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Himalayan striped squirrel (Tamiops mcclellandii), also known as western striped squirrel, or Burmese striped squirrel, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It lives in a variety of forest from tropical to subtropical in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. This species is diurnal, arboreal and feeds on fruits, vegetable matter, and insects. It often seen in small groups and uses tree holes for shelter.The rapid uplift of the Himalayan Mountains is believed to have caused the diversification of the three main Tamiops Lineages. Multiple divergences from 5.8 to 1.7 mya likely led to the formation of modern Tamiops species.
Other animals of the family Sciuridae
Himalayan striped squirrel is a member of the Sciuridae, as are these animals:
- Bobak marmot with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Lady Burton’s rope squirrel weighting only 109 grams
- Least pygmy squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Mindanao squirrel raching a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Red-legged sun squirrel with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Caucasian squirrel with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Alpine marmot with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Red-tailed squirrel with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Spotted ground squirrel with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Brazilian squirrel weighting only 177 grams
Animals that share a litter size with Himalayan striped squirrel
Those animals also give birth to 2 babies at once:
- Lundomys
- Silvery greater galago
- American pika
- Menzbier’s marmot
- Tayra
- Eastern harvest mouse
- Florida mouse
- Merriam’s kangaroo rat
- Lusitanian pine vole
- Common mole-rat
Animals with the same weight as a Himalayan striped squirrel
What other animals weight around 45 grams (0.1 lbs)?
- Highland brush mouse weighting 54 grams
- Transandinomys talamancae weighting 54 grams
- Gulf Coast kangaroo rat weighting 49 grams
- Black-eared mouse weighting 39 grams
- Fat-tailed false antechinus weighting 36 grams
- Ecuadorian grass mouse weighting 39 grams
- Broad-striped dasyure weighting 53 grams
- Hairy-tailed bolo mouse weighting 39 grams
- Sepia short-tailed opossum weighting 36 grams
- Crested-tailed deer mouse weighting 40 grams
Animals with the same size as a Himalayan striped squirrel
Also reaching around 10.4 cm (0′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Big-eared hopping mouse gets as big as 11.7 cm (0′ 5″)
- Hairy-footed gerbil gets as big as 9.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Mindanao shrew-rat gets as big as 10.4 cm (0′ 5″)
- Altiplano grass mouse gets as big as 9.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Mountain mosaic-tailed rat gets as big as 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Narrow-headed slender opossum gets as big as 10.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Short-snouted elephant shrew gets as big as 11.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Western shrew mouse gets as big as 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby gets as big as 12 cm (0′ 5″)
- Yellow-spotted brush-furred rat gets as big as 12.2 cm (0′ 5″)