The tree shrews are non-rodent, primate-like, small animals. ... As these animals are phylogenetically close to primates in evolution and have a well-developed visual system and color vision in some species, they have been utilized to establish myopia models.

What makes a tree shrew not a primate?

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, numerous studies demonstrated that many of the similarities between tree shrews and primates in brain morphology and reproductive anatomy were not homologous features, and tree shrews are no longer classified with primates (Martin, 1968).

Is tree shrew a rodent?

Tree shrews are superficially squirrel-like, and they are not rodents, but insectivores. ... There are two species of tree shrews. The common tree shrew, Tupaia glis, is the one most often seen in gardens and, amazing as it may seem, it is a primate.