Alexander's bush squirrel (''Paraxerus alexandri'') is a species of squirrel native to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It is arboreal and lives in tropical moist forests, especially undisturbed mature forests. It is a common species with a wide range, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has rated it as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

". Its common name and Latin binomial commemorate Lieutenant

Boyd Alexander Lieutenant Boyd Alexander (16 January 1873 – 2 April 1910) was an English officer in the British Army, as well as an explorer and ornithologist. Early life Boyd was the oldest son (with a twin brother) of Lt Colonel Boyd Francis Alexander ...

, a British Army officer, explorer and ornithologist.

Description

This is a very small squirrel with a head-and-body length of about and a tail about in length, with a weight of . The fur is a grizzled mixture of yellow, grey and black, with a few black guard hairs, giving an overall impression of a greenish-brown colour. There is a broad band of tawny orange running from the head to the rump, bordered on either side by a thin black band and a narrow creamy-white band. The underparts are a paler greenish-brown colour, sometimes with yellowish blotches. The head is a similar colour, there is a white eye-ring and the ears are fringed with white. The limbs are greenish-brown and there are four digits on the fore-feet and five digits on the hind-feet. The tail tapers towards the tip and is clad in moderate-length hairs and indistinctly barred in ochre and brown.

Distribution and habitat

Alexander's bush squirrel is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to tropical Central Africa, where its range includes the northeast part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the eastern part of Uganda, from the White Nile to the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River flows entirely within the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi. The Lualaba is long. Its headwaters are i ...

, and from the

Mbomou River The Mbomou River or Bomu (also spelled M'bomou in French) forms part of the boundary between the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbomou merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. The U ...

in the north of Uganda to the

Lukuga River The Lukuga River is a tributary of the Lualaba River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that drains Lake Tanganyika. It is unusual in that its flow varies not just seasonally but also due to longer term climate fluctuations. Location ...

in the south, a total area of occupancy of about . It occurs at altitudes of between about .

Status

This squirrel has a wide range and is a relatively common species. It is presumed to have a large total population and occur in several protected areas. No particular threats have been identified but it may suffer from some

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

as forest land is cleared for agriculture. The

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q779879 Paraxerus Rodents of Africa Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mammals of Uganda Mammals described in 1907 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxa named by Robert Charles Wroughton Taxonomy articles created by Polbot