Thomas's rope squirrel or redless tree squirrel (''Funisciurus anerythrus'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Sciuridae 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 ...

. It is found in

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It is a common species and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated it as being of "

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

Description

This is a medium-sized

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 ...

growing to a head-and-body length of about with a bushy tail of about . The dorsal fur is a plain, grizzled brown, with a single buff stripe, bordered with dark brown below, running from the shoulder to the hindquarters. The underparts are whitish, dull grey or orange, and the limbs are buff. The hairs of the tail have reddish bases, dark shafts and pale tips. When the squirrel is at rest, the tail is curled up close to the back, and when the animal is moving, it is often held vertically with the tip curling backwards.

Distribution and habitat

Thomas's rope squirrel occurs in tropical West and Central Africa. Its range is divided into two areas, and there is the possibility that two separate species are involved. One population is in Benin and Nigeria, and the other in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, northern Gabon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It usually inhabits primary, moist, lowland forest but also occurs in

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

and in

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

. It predominantly occupies wet habitats such as raffia palm and other swamp forests, seasonally flooded areas, riverbanks and islands in rivers. In Nigeria, it tends to be found in secondary forests in the tangled undergrowth of shrubs and creepers, and even partway up moderate-sized trees.

Ecology

Thomas's rope squirrel forages on the ground and in trees for fruits and seeds, also consuming arthropods (mostly ants and termites), and small quantities of green leafy material and fungi. The fruits of the raffia palm are a favourite food and may be cached temporarily in crevices. Several squirrels sometimes frequent a single palm tree, and communicate vocally or by stamping. Two squirrels often move about in company, resting side by side and grooming each other. Globular nests are made of leaves and lined with fibres, and are built in undergrowth, on branches or on the central

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this case the ''rachi ...

of palm leaves, often overhanging water. Breeding takes place at any time of year, with litters usually consisting of one or two young.

Conservation status

This squirrel has a wide range; it is a common species in suitable habitat and is presumed to have a large total population. No particular threats have been identified, so the

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q306365 Funisciurus Rodents of Africa Mammals described in 1890 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot