Meet The Malabar Giant Squirrel, The World's Largest Squirrel With So Much Color You Won't Believe Your Eyes At First
Most squirrels look like tiny speed bumps in the underbrush, but the Malabar giant squirrel is something else entirely. In the Indian forests, it can show up like a blur of color, then suddenly you realize it is the world’s largest squirrel, with a coat so vivid it feels fake.
Here’s the tricky part, you might catch it in the shaded understory and think it’s just another dark little animal blending in, then sunlight hits and the whole look flips.
Drop your eyes on one and you will swear you’re seeing the wrong species.
In the deep Indian forest, squirrel sightings offer a strikingly dissimilar appearance
“In the shaded understory of a dense forest, the patchy colors and dark hues are a great adaptation for avoiding detection,” squirrel expert John Koprowski said. “But when you see these in the sunlight, they show their ‘true colors’ and beautiful pelage.”
The Indian forests are home to the Malabar squirrel, or Indian giant squirrel, which is the world’s largest squirrel
Right when you think it’s just a patchy forest blur, the Malabar giant squirrel steps into sunlight and the colors go from subtle to unreal.
The Malabar squirrel is a distinctive subspecies of the common backyard squirrel that is quite different from it.
These charming creatures, with their multicolored coats, present a unique and rare sight
And because these squirrels can measure up to 36 inches from head to tail, the size shock hits at the same time as the color shock.
And it’s a similar “wait, what?” moment to scientists sharing the awry video of a 77-pound deer getting swallowed whole.
In contrast, these squirrels are enormous, measuring up to 36 inches from head to tail and having a body size that is double that of a typical squirrel. However, what sets them apart is not their size but rather their gorgeous coat.
These squirrels are giant in comparison, with a body size twice that of the common squirrel
The real twist is that their gorgeous purple, black, brown, and orange fur is doing the heavy lifting as natural camouflage, not just looking pretty.
Despite not having chosen it, the Malabar giant squirrel's colorful coat acts as a natural defense.
Their fur is a breathtaking combination of purple, black, brown, and even orange, providing them with the best camouflage
Everyone, watch the Malabar squirrel in the video below!
So when the video comes up, it’s basically your chance to prove to yourself that this ancient squirrel group really looks like that in real life.
“They’re part of a group of squirrels that is pretty ancient,” he said. “They’re a unique evolutionary group that’s been here a long time, which is a good thing.”
Drop your thoughts about this squirrel in the comments section below.
One glimpse, and you’ll never look at “squirrel” the same way again.
After seeing those crazy “true colors,” check out the giant Indian squirrel that looks too good to be true.
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