The genus name is derived from the Tamil name of moongil anathaan (literally "bamboo squirrel") and the species name is after Sir Walter Elliot of the Indian Civil Services in Madras.

The race A. e. pallida (type locality: Manbhum, Bengal, collected by Robert Cecil Beavan British Museum 66.12.28.2) has the colour of body above reddish-brown and the feet and hind legs grizzled buffy.

Three subspecies have been described — A. e. ellioti of the Eastern Ghats, Biligirirangan[9] and the Shevaroy Hills and other hills of Southern India, A. e. pallida from Central India primarily in Madhya Pradesh and Raipur, and A. e. wroughtoni from the Satpura Range and the Dangs near Bombay.

[12] This species of treeshrew is not particularly arboreal and spends much of its time on the ground or clambering about on rocky terrain in the search of insects and seeds.

[14] It is easily separated from the squirrels in the field by the shape and color of the tail and the upward curve in which it is held when walking about.