Northern palm squirrel / Five-striped palm squirrel / Funambulus pennantii

Just when I was preparing this post, I realized that Palm Squirrel comes in 2 types, divided by the line of the Vindhyachal mountain range! The similarly looking squirrel species have a minor difference.



The species of Palm Squirrels living north of the Vindhyachal have 5 white stripes on their brown back, and are thus called Five-Striped Palm Squirrel. They are known as Northern Palm Squirrel also. Their scientific name is Funambulus pennantii. The photos in this post are of this type of a squirrel. We photographed this cutie on the roof of the queen's palace in Chittorgarh.



The species of Palm Squirrels living south of the Vindhyachal have 3 white stripes on their brown back, and are thus called Three-Striped Palm Squirrel. They are known as Indian Palm Squirrel also. Their scientific name is Funambulus palmarum.



The difference is not quite noticeable unless you look keenly. Born and brought-up in India, even I did not know that the squirrels I have been seeing since my childhood come in two types, both types looking almost exactly the same.



I hope you enjoyed the photos of the Northern Palm Squirrel just as much as I enjoyed creating them :)