Sun squirrels Temporal range: Late
Pleistocene to Recent
| |
---|---|
H. rufobrachium, Uganda | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Sciuridae |
Tribe: | Protoxerini |
Genus: |
Heliosciurus Trouessart, 1880 |
Type species | |
Sciurus gambianus | |
Species [1] | |
Sun squirrels ( genus Heliosciurus), form a taxon of squirrels under the subfamily Xerinae and the tribe Protoxerini. They are only found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Either the habit of basking in the sun on tree branches[ citation needed] or the tail being commonly used as a sunshade [2] gave this group its common name.
Sun squirrels have been implicated in the spread of human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[ citation needed]
There are six species in the genus:
Sun squirrels Temporal range: Late
Pleistocene to Recent
| |
---|---|
H. rufobrachium, Uganda | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Sciuridae |
Tribe: | Protoxerini |
Genus: |
Heliosciurus Trouessart, 1880 |
Type species | |
Sciurus gambianus | |
Species [1] | |
Sun squirrels ( genus Heliosciurus), form a taxon of squirrels under the subfamily Xerinae and the tribe Protoxerini. They are only found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Either the habit of basking in the sun on tree branches[ citation needed] or the tail being commonly used as a sunshade [2] gave this group its common name.
Sun squirrels have been implicated in the spread of human monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[ citation needed]
There are six species in the genus: