Red bush squirrel

Red bush squirrel
P. p. ornatus of oNgoye forest
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Sciuridae
Genus:	Paraxerus
Species:	P. palliatus
Binomial name
Paraxerus palliatus (Peters, 1852)
Subspecies[2]
P. p. palliatus P. p. bridgemani P. p. frerei P. p. ornatus P. p. sponsus P. p. swynnertoni P. p. tanae

The red bush squirrel or red-bellied coast squirrel (Paraxerus palliatus) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae, which is found in forests along the eastern seaboard of Africa.

Range and habitat

It is native to Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

Races

The southern-most subspecies, P. p. ornatus, is endemic to oNgoye Forest in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.^[3] P. p. swynnertoni is endemic to Chirinda Forest in eastern Zimbabwe,^[4] and P. (p.) vincenti at Mount Namuli is sometimes deemed a full species.^[5]

References

1. Grubb, P. (2008). Paraxerus palliatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
2. Thorington, R.W., Jr.; Hoffmann, R.S. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference (3rd ed.). The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 754–818. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4. OCLC 26158608.
3. Mills, Gus; Hes, Lex (1997). The complete book of southern African mammals (1. ed.). Cape Town: Struik Publishers. p. 131. ISBN 9780947430559.
4. Timberlake, Jonathan (6 November 2002). "The Biodiversity and Ecology of Chirinda Forest" (PDF). BFA SEMINAR SERIES NO. 17. Bulawayo Club. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
5. Kingdon, J.; et al. (2013). Mammals of Africa. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 88. ISBN 1408189968.