# Indian giant squirrel (*Ratufa indica*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-giant-squirrel  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), also called the Malabar giant squirrel, is a rodent in the family Sciuridae and subfamily Ratufinae. It is a medium-sized mammal with an adult body mass of 1.06 kg, and it is a diurnal, arboreal herbivore. Its gestation period is 83.7 days, it has 1 young per litter, and its lifespan is given as 20 years. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.06 kg |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 20 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest, woodland |
| Gestation | 83.7 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Rodentia
- family: Sciuridae
- genus: Ratufa
- species: *Ratufa indica* (Erxleben, 1777)

Synonyms: *Sciurus indicus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the Indian giant squirrel?

The Indian giant squirrel is a mammal, a rodent in the order Rodentia and the squirrel family Sciuridae.

### How heavy is the Indian giant squirrel?

An adult Indian giant squirrel has a body mass of 1.06 kg, which places it in the medium size class.

### What does the Indian giant squirrel eat?

The Indian giant squirrel is a herbivore.

### Is the Indian giant squirrel endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the Indian giant squirrel live?

Its lifespan is given as 20 years.

### How many young does the Indian giant squirrel have?

The Indian giant squirrel has 1 young per litter, after a gestation period of 83.7 days.

### Who named the Indian giant squirrel?

Its scientific name Ratufa indica carries the authority (Erxleben, 1777).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-giant-squirrel