Myosciurus
| African pygmy squirrel | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: |
Myosciurus Thomas, 1909 |
| Species: | M. pumilio |
| Binomial name | |
|
Myosciurus pumilio (Le Conte, 1857) |
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| Range map of the African pygmy squirrel | |
The African pygmy squirrel (Myosciurus pumilio) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is monotypic within the genus Myosciurus. It is found in Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is the world's smallest squirrel measuring to about seventy millimeters, about the size of a mouse.
African pygmy squirrels are diurnal and live in trees. These squirrels are found in many forests in Africa. They prefer lower levels of the canopy, and spend most of the time at heights up to five meters.
African pygmy squirrels are the smallest squirrel species in the world. These pygmy squirrels have longer hind limbs than forelimbs, an arched profile skull, rooted cheek teeth, and ever growing incisors. The African pygmy squirrel’s tiny body is more mouse-like than squirrel-like. The borders of the eyes and ears are rounded with white edges at the tip. The coat is light olive white in the under parts and buffy umber brown in the upper parts. The standard adult mass is 16.5 grams. This species has one premolar in each side of the upper jaw. There is slight sexual dimorphism between males and females, with female body size moderately smaller than males but male cranial size is slightly smaller than females. The head and body length is about 60–75 mm and the tail has a measurement of 50–60 mm in length. Other physical features include: endothermy, homeothermy, and bilateral symmetry.
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