Heliosciurus punctatus (Temminck, 1853)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6840226 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6819059 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/064D0660-FFBA-ED47-FF10-F62CF611F5D0 |
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treatment provided by |
Diego |
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scientific name |
Heliosciurus punctatus |
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Small Sun Squirrel
Heliosciurus punctatus View in CoL
French: Ecureuil pointillé / German: Kleines Sonnenhérnchen / Spanish: Ardilla sol pequena
Taxonomy. Sciurus punctatus Temminck, 1853 ,
“les foréets de la Guiné,”
Guinea
coast of Africa.
Two subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
H. p. punctatus Temminck, 1853 — Sierra Leone and extreme SW Guinea through Liberia to S Ghana W of Volta River.
H. p. savannius Thomas, 1923 — inland savanna regions of Ivory Coast. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body mean 182-3 mm (males) and 184-8 mm (females), tail mean 201-4 mm (males) and 207 mm (females); weight mean 165-9 g (males) and 168-6 g (females). The Small Sun Squirrel has dark dorsum, suffused with buff on haunches and limbs; buff eye ring is apparent. Venter is gray. Long slendertail is ringed with alternating dark and buff bands, fainter on underside. Nominate punctatus is darker than paler savannius.
Habitat. Lowland primary and secondary rainforests, habitat fragments, and open savannas and shrublands. The Small Sun Squirrel tolerates some disturbance from farming and plantations.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Small Sun Squirrel is considered to be a generalist herbivore.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Small Sun Squirrel is diurnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. No data are available on population trends of the Small Sun Squirrel. Information on the extent of occurrence, status, and ecological requirements is scarce. It may be threatened, but degree of threat is impossible to estimate without more information on its adaptability to habitat change and remaining area of occupancy.
Bibliography. Rosevear (1969), Thorington & Schennum (2013b), Thorington et al. (2012).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
