Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Euarchontoglires
Ordo: Rodentiaa
Subordo: Sciuromorpha
Familia: Sciuridae
Subfamilia: Xerinae
Tribus: Protoxerini
Genus: Heliosciurus
Species: H. gambianus - H. mutabilis - H. punctatus - H. rufobrachium - H. ruwenzorii - H. undulatus
Name
Heliosciurus (Trouessart, 1880)
Vernacular names
English: Sun Squirrels
References
Heliosciurus in Mammal Species of the World.
Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (Editors) 2005. Mammal Species of the World – A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4.
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:
Gambian sun squirrel, Heliosciurus gambianus
Mutable sun squirrel, Heliosciurus mutabilis
Small sun squirrel, Heliosciurus punctatus
Red-legged sun squirrel, Heliosciurus rufobrachium
Ruwenzori sun squirrel, Heliosciurus ruwenzorii
Zanj sun squirrel, Heliosciurus undulatus
References
Thorington, R.W. Jr.; Hoffmann, R.S. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). 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.
Thomas, H.H.; Best, T.L.; Agwanda, B. (September 2019). "Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Rodentia: Sciuridae)". Mammalian Species. 51 (978): 61–69. doi:10.1093/mspecies/sez010.
Nowak, Ronald M. (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th edition, Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp 1281–1282.
list of the squirrels in the world www.squirrels.org, archived at web.archive.org
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