Overview
Sun squirrels (genus Heliosciurus), form a taxon of squirrels under the subfamily Xerinae and the tribe Protoxerini. They are only found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Either the habit of basking in the sun on tree branches or the tail being commonly used as a sunshade gave this group its common name.
Sun squirrels have been implicated in the spread of human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There are six species in the genus:
Gambian sun squirrel, Heliosciurus gambianus
Mutable sun squirrel, Heliosciurus mutabilis
Small sun squirrel, Heliosciurus punctatus
Red-legged sun squirrel, Heliosciurus rufobrachium
Ruwenzori sun squirrel, Heliosciurus ruwenzorii
Zanj sun squirrel, Heliosciurus undulatus
Either the habit of basking in the sun on tree branches or the tail being commonly used as a sunshade gave this group its common name.
Sun squirrels have been implicated in the spread of human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There are six species in the genus:
Gambian sun squirrel, Heliosciurus gambianus
Mutable sun squirrel, Heliosciurus mutabilis
Small sun squirrel, Heliosciurus punctatus
Red-legged sun squirrel, Heliosciurus rufobrachium
Ruwenzori sun squirrel, Heliosciurus ruwenzorii
Zanj sun squirrel, Heliosciurus undulatus
Sounds
A verified sound recording has not been linked yet. Auto Sync will keep checking xeno-canto and Wikimedia Commons.
References
- Wikipedia — Sun squirrel Wikipedia
- GBIF Auto Sync GBIF
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