Tupaia is a genus of treeshrew in the Tupaiidae family. The family and genus names derive from "tupai", the Malay word for treeshrew and also for squirrel, which Tupaiidae superficially resemble. The genus was first described by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1821, as having an elongated snout, 8 to 10 incisors, well developed limbs, five-toed naked feet, and the sole furnished with projecting pads and sharp claws, with a habit and tail of a squirrel. When Diard and Duvaucel described the first specimen of the common treeshrew in 1820, they considered it a species of Sorex.