African miniature squirrel
| African miniature squirrel | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Myosciurus | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1909 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Myosciurus pumilio | ||||||||||||
| ( Le Conte , 1857) |
The African miniature squirrel ( Myosciurus pumilio ) is a tree-dwelling squirrel in the rainforests of Central Africa . It is the smallest of all croissants; in its tiny size, it is more reminiscent of a mouse than a croissant. The head body length is 7 cm, plus 6 cm tail. The weight is about 16 g. The coat colors are greenish-brown on the top and whitish on the underside. This croissant is widespread in Cameroon , Gabon , Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea .
Little is known about the way these squirrels live, as they have rarely been observed. It obviously lives in the areas of the trees close to the ground, so it does not rise to the top of the tree. Here it looks for shelter in tree hollows. Little squirrels are diurnal solitary animals. In the few cases observed, the number of young in the litter was always two.
Often one has seen miniature squirrels peeling tree bark from the trunks in order to eat it. An examination of the stomach contents has also shown that bark makes up a disproportionate proportion of the food. In addition, tree fungi and termites were found.
The IUCN has classified the species as not endangered since 2008. However, it is likely to be latently threatened by the rapid destruction of the rainforests.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Web links
- Myosciurus pumilio in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2010. Posted by: Grubb, P., 2008. Accessed on 8 May, 2010.
- African Miniature Squirrel on Animal Diversity Web