Red-bellied bush squirrel
| Red-bellied bush squirrel | ||||||||||||
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Depiction of Sciurus ornatus = Paraxerus palliatus ornatus in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1864 |
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| Paraxerus palliatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Peters , 1852) |
The red-bellied bush squirrel ( Paraxerus palliatus ) is a species of squirrel from the genus of the African bush squirrel ( Paraxerus ). It occurs in the coastal forest areas of East Africa south of the Sahara from the south of Somalia to the north of South Africa .
features
The red-bellied bush squirrel reaches an average head-trunk length of 21.0 to 23.0 centimeters, the tail is 19.5 to 21.5 centimeters long. The weight is around 350 to 400 grams. The rear foot length is 50 to 52 millimeters, the ear length 19 to 22 millimeters. Some subspecies can be smaller, especially in drier areas. It is a medium-sized to large squirrel with a brown to gray-brown fur on the back and a conspicuous red or reddish to yellowish belly color. The color and intensity can vary regionally and depending on the subspecies. There are no light side stripes. The top of the head is grayish brown, the cheeks are reddish. The legs and feet are also reddish, in some subspecies also darker. The tail is comparatively long with a length of about 90 percent of the head-torso length. It is bushy and greyish-brown at the base, in the rear two thirds it is usually bright red in color. The females have three paired teats (0 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 6).
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 2 | · | 3 | = 22 |
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 1 | · | 3 |
The skull has a total length of 49.0 to 52.0 millimeters and a width of 28.0 to 31.0 millimeters. Like all species of the genus has the type in the upper jaw half per one to a incisor tooth formed incisor (incisor) to which a tooth gap ( diastema follows). This is followed by two premolars and three molars . The teeth in the lower jaw correspond to those in the upper jaw, but only with a premolar. In total, the animals have a set of 22 teeth. The row of molars from the first premolar to the third molar is 9.3 to 9.9 millimeters. The bony palate ends at the anterior margin of the last molars.
The red-bellied bush squirrel is similar to other African bush squirrels and differs from them mainly in its light red belly color. It can hardly be distinguished from the Vincent squirrel ( Paraxerus vincenti ), but this only occurs in a demarcated area on Monte Namuli in Mozambique.
distribution
The red-bellied bush squirrel occurs in the coastal forest areas of East Africa south of the Sahara, from the south of Somalia to the north of South Africa . The distribution area extends over the east of Kenya , Tanzania with the islands of Zanzibar and Mafia , Malawi , Mozambique and Zimbabwe ; in South Africa the animals are found in the province of KwaZulu-Natal . In some areas, the animals penetrate further inland along the rivers, including along the Tana in Kenya and the Ruaha in Tanzania.
Way of life
The red-bellied bush squirrel lives in various habitats in the dry to moist forests of the East African coastal zone. It prefers dense stands of wood ( thickets ), in Mozambique and South Africa also dune forests and evergreen wet forest areas up to heights of 2000 meters.
The animals are diurnal and, like other bush squirrels, live by trees, although they occasionally look for food on the ground. They build their nests in the trees, especially in tree hollows of baobab - and Kigelia -Trees on. Like other species in the genus, they are omnivorous , and they forage for food on the ground and in trees, where they move quickly along the branches and trunks. The diet consists mainly of seeds, fruits and nuts, as well as insects and other invertebrates. They make camps from seeds but typically do not hoard large amounts of food. In principle, they drink water, but are not dependent on it and can get the fluids they need from food. The animals usually live in pairs or as solitary animals, but sometimes they also form nest groups of three to four animals. The activity space depends on the habitat and gender; in the evergreen rainforest, average territories of about 3.2 hectares were determined for males and 2.2 hectares for females; in coastal forests and thickets the average area was 4.2 hectares for males and 0.8 hectares for females. They communicate with each other via calls, odor marks through urine and anal tags and optical signals. In the latter, the light-colored tail, which is moved jerkily, plays a central role. Various growling, grunting, clicking, chirping and other calls are used as acoustic signals.
The mating behavior is initiated by the pursuit of the females by males willing to mate, who signal this with murmurs. This will likely also stimulate ovulation . The gestation period is 60 to 65 days. You will likely only get one litter per year, made up of one or two pups weighing 13-14 grams; several litters are possible in captivity. For their litter, the females create nests from leaves in tree hollows and keep them clean. The young animals open their eyes after seven to ten days, they leave the nest for the first time after about 18 days and are weaned by the mother after about 40 days.
The predators of the species are probably mainly birds of prey, snakes and crawling cats . Young animals are more likely to be captured by arboreal snakes and crawling cats, while adults are more likely to be captured by birds of prey.
Systematics
The red-bellied bush squirrel is classified as an independent species within the genus of the African bush squirrel ( Paraxerus ), which consists of eleven species. The first scientific description comes from the German zoologist and naturalist Wilhelm Peters from 1852, who described the species as Sciurus palliatus based on a pregnant female from mainland Mozambique near the Ilha de Moçambique . In the same year Peters presented a much more extensive description in his travelogue Scientific trip to Mossambique .
Within the species, six to seven subspecies are distinguished using the nominate form :
- Paraxerus palliatus palliatus : nominate form; occurs on the coast of Tanzania and in northern Mozambique. The nominate form has reddish-brown feet.
- Paraxerus palliatus frerei : on the islands of Mafia and Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania, the subspecies has black feet.
- Paraxerus palliatus ornatus : in the Ngoye Forest in Eshowe District in northern South Africa. The subspecies is large and the back fur is colored sand-colored mottled brown-black, the belly is red-brown-orange. The tail is dark brown to black with orange washings.
- Paraxerus palliatus sponsus : on the east coast of Mozambique, south of the Save . The subspecies corresponds to the nominate form.
- Paraxerus palliatus swynnertoni : in the Chirinda forest in eastern Zimbabwe. The shape has a cinnamon-reddish-brown color of the abdomen and cheeks, the color of the back and face are grayish-black and sand-colored. Compared to the nominate form and Paraxerus palliatus ornatus , this subspecies is smaller.
- Paraxerus palliatus tanae : in southern Somalia through eastern Kenya to Pangani in northeastern Tanzania. The tail of this subspecies is completely red-brown-orange in color.
In the work Mammals of Africa from 2013 and in Mammal Species of the World from 2005, another subspecies was described with Paraxerus palliatus bridgemani and named as a potentially separate species, in older sources even up to 11 subspecies are recognized. The Vincent squirrel ( Paraxerus vincenti ), formerly also considered a subspecies, is now accepted as an independent species.
Status, threat and protection
The red-bellied bush squirrel is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as not endangered (least concern). This is justified by the large range of the species, its good adaptability to different habitats and habitat changes as well as the assumed high population numbers. There are currently no known risks that could endanger the survival of the population, although a large part of the coastal forests has been cut down or changed in recent decades.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Richard W. Thorington Jr., Lindsay A. Pappas, Chad E. Shennum: Paraxerus palliatus, Red Bush Squirrel. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 84-85; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 242-244. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- ↑ Peter Grubb: Genus Paraxerus, Bush Squirrels. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 72-74; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
- ↑ a b Paraxerus palliatus in the IUCN 2016-1 Red List of Endangered Species . Posted by: P. Grubb, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ↑ a b c Paraxerus palliatus . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- ^ Wilhelm Peters: Some new mammals and river fish from Mozambique. Report on the Konigl negotiations suitable for publication. Preuss. Academy of Sciences in Berlin 1852, pp. 273–276 ( [1] )
- ^ Wilhelm Peters: Scientific trip to Mossambique: executed on the orders of his Majesty the King Friedrich Wilhelm IV in the years 1842 to 1848. Berlin, 1852, pp. 1–205 (pp. 134–136) ( [2] )
literature
- Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 242-244. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 .
- Richard W. Thorington Jr., Lindsay A. Pappas, Chad E. Shennum: Paraxerus palliatus, Red Bush Squirrel. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 84-85; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
Web links
- Paraxerus palliatus inthe IUCN 2016-1 Red List of Endangered Species . Posted by: P. Grubb, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2016.