The African bush squirrels are a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...

s, ''Paraxerus'', in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Xerinae The Xerinae comprise a subfamily of squirrels, many of which are highly terrestrial. It includes the tribes Marmotini (marmots, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and other Holarctic ground squirrels), Xerini (African and some Eurasian ground squirrels), ...

. They are only found in Africa. The 11 species in this genus are: *

Alexander's bush squirrel Alexander's bush squirrel (''Paraxerus alexandri'') is a species of squirrel native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. It is arboreal and lives in tropical moist forests, especially undisturbed mature forests. It is a common spe ...

(''P. alexandri'') * Boehm's bush squirrel (''P. boehmi'') * Smith's bush squirrel (''P. cepapi'') * Cooper's mountain squirrel (''P. cooperi'') * Striped bush squirrel (''P. flavovittis'') *

Black and red bush squirrel The black and red bush squirrel (''Paraxerus lucifer'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae occurring in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. In Malawi, it is found in Misuku Hills and Nyika Plateau and in Tanzania Poroto Mountains and Mo ...

(''P. lucifer'') *

Ochre bush squirrel The ochre bush squirrel (''Paraxerus ochraceus'') is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae found in Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is dry savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woo ...

(''P. ochraceus'') * Red bush squirrel (''P. palliatus'') * Green bush squirrel (''P. poensis'') * Swynnerton's bush squirrel (''P. vexillarius'') * Vincent's bush squirrel (''P. vincenti'')

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070329003419/http://www.squirrels.org/names.html Taxa named by Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major {{Squirrel-stub