Heliosciurus rufobrachium
| Kingdom |
Phylum |
Class |
Order |
Family |
| ANIMALIA |
CHORDATA |
MAMMALIA |
RODENTIA |
SCIURIDAE |
| Scientific Name: |
Heliosciurus rufobrachium |
| Species Authority: |
(Waterhouse, 1842) |
Common Name/s:
| English |
– |
Crab-eating Mongoose, Isabelline Red-legged Sun Squirrel, Red-legged Sun Squirrel |
| French |
– |
Héliosciure À Pattes Rousses |
|
| Taxonomic Notes: |
This is probably a complex of several similar species (P. Grubb pers. comm.). |
Assessment Information
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| Red List Category & Criteria: |
Least Concern
ver 3.1
|
| Year Published: |
2008 |
| Assessor/s: |
Grubb, P. & Ekué, M.R.M. |
| Reviewer/s: |
Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Cox, N. (Global Mammal Assessment Team) |
Justification:
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, it occurs in a number of protected areas, has a tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
|
| History: |
| 2004 |
– |
Least Concern
|
| 1996 |
– |
Lower Risk/least concern
(Baillie and Groombridge 1996)
|
|
Geographic Range
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| Range Description: |
This widespread Subsaharan species is distributed from Senegal and the Gambia In West Africa, eastwards through Sierra Leone and Liberia to southern Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and from here into southern Cameroon and southern Central African Republic, to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania in East Africa. Not yet recorded from south of the Congo River. It is also present on the island of Bioko (Equatorial Guinea).
|
| Countries: |
Native:
Benin; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Equatorial Guinea; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Liberia; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Uganda
|
| Range Map: |
Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.
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Population
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| Population: |
It is likely to be common, but little is known about the species abundance.
|
| Population Trend: |
Unknown
|
Habitat and Ecology
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| Habitat and Ecology: |
This species is found in tropical moist forest, but it is not limited to this habitat, and can be found within savanna formations and drier gallery forest. In Sierra Leone, the species was apparently recorded in Avicennia mangrove swamps (Rosevear 1969; Grubb et al. 1998). The species is also recorded from agricultural lands, especially cocoa plantations and oil palm plantations (kernels of oil palm fruits are a favoured food). The species is apparently usually found nesting in taller trees using holes in the trunk or larger branches (Rosevear 1969). It breeds twice a year with a litter size of two young.
|
| Systems: |
Terrestrial |
| Major Threat(s): |
There are no major threats to this species as a whole.
|
Conservation Actions
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| Conservation Actions: |
It is known to occur in several protected areas throughout the range.
|
