Definition of "tree shrew" []

• Any of various small squirrellike arboreal mammals of the family Tupaiidae found in southeast Asia, India, and southern China. Though sometimes placed in a separate taxonomic order, tree shrews are thought to be related to both insectivores and primates. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.