How many baby Layard’s palm squirrels are in a litter?
A Layard’s palm squirrel (Funambulus layardi) usually gives birth to around 2 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 70 grams (0.15 lbs) and measure 8.3 cm (0′ 4″). They are a member of the Sciuridae family (genus: Funambulus). An adult Layard’s palm squirrel grows up to a size of 45.7 cm (1′ 6″).
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.
Layard’s palm squirrel or flame-striped jungle squirrel (Funambulus layardi) is a species of rodents in the family Sciuridae endemic to Sri Lanka. The validity of the subspecies F. l. dravidianus based on a single specimen from the southern tip of India has been questioned, and is probably a juvenile F. sublineatus. Known as මූකලන් ලේනා (mukalan lena) in Sinhala.
Other animals of the family Sciuridae
Layard’s palm squirrel is a member of the Sciuridae, as are these animals:
- Black-tailed prairie dog with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Black-eared squirrel raching a size of 9.5 cm (0′ 4″)
- Indian giant flying squirrel weighting around 1.68 kilograms (3.7 lbs)
- Townsend’s ground squirrel with 8 babies per pregnancy
- Golden-mantled ground squirrel with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Davao squirrel raching a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Colorado chipmunk with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Mexican ground squirrel with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Ring-tailed ground squirrel with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Little ground squirrel with 7 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Layard’s palm squirrel
Those animals also give birth to 2 babies at once: