Black and red bush squirrel
| Black and red bush squirrel | ||||||||||||
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Black and red bush squirrel ( Paraxerus lucifer ) |
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| Paraxerus lucifer | ||||||||||||
| ( Thomas , 1897) |
The black and red or Tanganyika bush squirrel ( Paraxerus lucifer ) is a species of squirrel from the genus of the African bush squirrel ( Paraxerus ). It occurs in mountain regions in the north of Malawi and in the south-west of Tanzania , there is hardly any information about the way of life of the animals.
features
The black and red bush squirrel reaches an average head-trunk length of about 20.1 to 24.1 centimeters, the tail is about 18.6 to 21.8 centimeters long. The weight is about 300 to 675 grams. The rear foot length is about 48 to 55 millimeters, the ear length 15 to 22 millimeters. The animals have a light reddish-brown fur without back or side stripes, often a black patch of long black hair on the back. The back fur is long and soft. The hair is gray in the basal half and reddish brown in the upper area with a black tip. The sides of the body are red-brown, the hair corresponds to the back hair and has no black tip. The belly, chest and throat are dove gray and consist of dove gray hair with a silver or whitish tip. The color of the head, cheeks and chin corresponds to the back side. The front and rear legs are very light red-brown. The tail, which is about 60% of the length of the head and torso, is moderately long and is also red-brown and has hair on top with a pale red-brown base, a light red tip and a black subterminal band. The underside of the tail is light red-brown. The females have three teats on each side of their body, making a total of six teats .
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 2 | · | 3 | = 22 |
| 1 | · | 0 | · | 1 | · | 3 |
The skull has a total length of 53.8 to 56.4 millimeters and a width of 30.0 to 31.7 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 8.8 to 9.6 millimeters. The bony palate ends at the anterior margin of the last molars.
The black and red bush squirrel is similar to other African bush squirrels and differs from them mainly in the reddish brown fur color, the black spot and the lack of side stripes.
distribution
The black and red bush squirrel occurs in mountain regions in the north of Malawi in the Misuku Hills and the Nyika Plateau as well as in the south-west of Tanzania in the Poroto Mountains and in the Nkuka Forest with Mount Rungwe . There is so far no evidence for the adjacent Mafinga and Mafinga Mountains in northeastern Zambia , although it is assumed that the species could also occur there.
Way of life
Very little information is available about the way of life of the black and red bush squirrel. It lives in the tropical rainforest of isolated mountain regions with high levels of precipitation.
The animals are diurnal and, like other bush squirrels, live on trees. Like other species in the genus, they are omnivorous and they likely forage on the ground and in trees. The food consists of fruits, nuts and other parts of plants as well as insects such as ants and termites.
There is also limited information available on reproduction. A female captured in September was both pregnant and lactating , indicating two breeding seasons in rapid succession. Out of eight females caught in April, none was pregnant. No information is available about predators; fleas of the genus Libyastus have been documented as ectoparasites .
Systematics
The black and red 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 Oldfield Thomas from 1897, who described the species as Xerus (Paraxerus) lucifer using a male individual from the collection of Alexander Whyte from the Kombe forest in the Misuku Hills in northern Malawi. The species is closely related to the Vincent squirrel ( Paraxerus vincenti ), the red-bellied bush squirrel ( Paraxerus palliatus ) and the Usambara bush squirrel ( Paraxerus vexillarius ).
Apart from the nominate form, no further subspecies are distinguished within the species .
Status, threat and protection
The black and red bush squirrel is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) due to the very inadequate data on distribution and lifestyle as "data deficient" and accordingly not classified in a hazard category.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Chad E. Shennum, Richard W. Thorington Jr .: Paraxerus lucifer, Black-and-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. 81-82; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
- ↑ 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 c d Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 239-240. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- ↑ a b Paraxerus lucifer in the IUCN 2016-1 Red List of Endangered Species . Posted by: P. Grubb, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
- ↑ a b Paraxerus lucifer . 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 .
- ↑ Oldfield Thomas : [Exhibition of small mammals collected by Mr. Alexander Whyte during his expedition to the Nyika plateau and Masuka Mountains, NR Nyasa.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1897; Pp. 430-436. ( Digitized version )
literature
- Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 239-240. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- Chad E. Shennum, Richard W. Thorington Jr .: Paraxerus lucifer, Black-and-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. 81-82; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
Web links
- Paraxerus lucifer inthe IUCN 2016-1 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: P. Grubb, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2016.