Myosciurus pumalio
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Mittermeier, Russell A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Sciuridae
Myosciurus
Myosciurus pumalio

description: 262. African Pygmy Squirrel <i>Myosciurus pumalio</i> <b>French:</b> Ecureuil du Gabon / <b>German:</b> Afrika-Zwerghornchen / <b>Spanish:</b> Ardilla pigmea de Africa <b>Taxonomy.</b> Sciurus pumilio Le Conte, 1857, “the head waters of the Ovenga River,” Ga- bon. This species is monotypic. <b>Distribution.</b> Cameroon S through Equatorial Guinea (including Bioko I), Gabon, and NW Republic of the Congo. <b>Descriptive notes.</b> Head-body 72-1 mm (males) and 74-8 mm (females), tail mean 55:3 mm (males) and 50 mm (females); weight mean 16-1 g. The African Pygmy Squirrelis the smallest squirrel in Africa and is the size of a mouse for which it is often mistaken. Dorsal pelage of body and head are brown, suffused with rust, and speckled with buff. Eye ring is buff to tan, and inner linings of pinnae are buff. Venter is light brown. Feet are relatively elongate and narrow likely as an adaptation tolife on trunks of large trees. Tail is dark brown to black, with suffusion ofrust, and it is rarely held upright. <b>Habitat.</b> [Lowland tropical primary forests. The African Pygmy Squirrel occasionally can be found in second growth forests. <b>Food and Feeding.</b> The African Pygmy Squirrel is primarily bark-gleaning specialist and forages on surfaces of large live and dead tree trunks and branches. Pieces of bark are removed and then scraped with incisors to extract the edible material. Diet includes bark and associated bacterial and fungal film, fruits and seeds, ants, and termites. They can be mistaken for lizards, and they move in similar fashion with legs splayed and body flattened against tree surfaces. Small body size and elongated toes and vestigial thumbs on forefeet enable this specialized feeding technique. <b>Breeding.</b> It has been suggested that breeding of African Pygmy Squirrels occurs early in the year, and females may produce two young. <b>Activity patterns.</b> African Pygmy Squirrels are diurnal and arboreal. They spend much of their ime foraging in trees. <b>Movements, Home range and Social organization.</b> African Pygmy Squirrels move energetically through all canopy layers and on the ground but primarily 0-5 m aboveground. They appear to nest in tree holes or termite nests. Individuals are usually solitary but occasionally occur in pairs. A simple but distinctive alarm call composed of repeated sequences of slow low-amplitude pulses, forming an overall piping sound is common. Calling individuals hold their tail straight behind their body with basal twitches in an alarm display. <b>Status and Conservation.</b> Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The African Pygmy Squirrelis widely distributed, presumably has large populations, and occurs in protected areas. No information is available on its population trends. Deforestation is a threat in some parts ofits distribution. <b>Bibliography.</b> Emmons (1979, 1980, 2013g), Thorington et al. (2012).
description: Published as part of <i>Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr &amp; Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Sciuridae, pp. 648-837 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions</i> on page 827, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6840226