Heliosciurus mutabilis 225feet. The eyes are ringed with a wide white band; the
anal region and the base of the tail are rufous.
H. g. multicolor—west of Lake Rudolph (= Lake Turkana) in
Kenya, western Ethiopia, and Eritrea. This is a pale
subspecies.
H. g. omensis—lower Omo River (Kenya). It has a pale white
belly and a prominent white patch. The hands and feet
are gray; and the back, sides, hips, and hind limbs are
grayer than the dorsal pelage. The hairs of the buff y and
black-ringed tail are distinctly tipped with pure white.
H. g. rhodesiae—west of the Mchinga Escarpment, in the
High Plateau region (Zambia), northeastern Angola, and
Tanzania. This subspecies has conspicuous white cheeks
and silvery white discontinuous stripes above and below
the eyes.
H. g. senescens—coastal woodland habitat in Senegal and a
narrow belt of Guinea. It has distinct black and tan bands
on the tail.
conservation: IUCN—least concern. Population trend—
no information.
habitat: These arboreal squirrels prefer a dense habitat
with tall trees, woodland savannas, seasonally fl ooded
grasslands with an adjacent woodland, and rainforests.
They are also found in low thickets and the woody vegeta-
tion near water sources. Fairly adaptable, the animals can
live in high-forest farmlands and oil palm plantations, as
well as in woodland areas burned by annual grass fi res.
natural history: H. gambianus is diurnal, emerging from
its nest after dawn and returning before dusk. The animals
spend most of their time in the highest branches of trees
and are quite agile in their arboreal habitat. When they de-
scend to the ground to feed, they move by bounding. These
squirrels are omnivorous and opportunistic feeders, con-
suming everything from fruits, seeds, and acacia pods to
insects, beetles, eggs, young birds, geckos, and lizards. They
particularly like Ter minalia la xifl ora fruit, Butyrospermum
paradoxum, and the husks of oil palm (Elaeis) nuts. In the
wild, Gambian sun squirrels are solitary creatures, although
parents remain with their kittens until the young disperse.
This behavior changes in captivity, where individuals prefer
to sleep with other animals, even with other species. The
communication sounds of H. gambianus also vary between
captivity and the wild. Captive Gambian sun squirrels re-
peatedly emit high-pitched squeaks and fl ick their tails
when threatened or disturbed. In the wild, they use a vari-
ety of diff erent calls, including a series of long “ker ker”
sounds, a half-second trill, and a “chatter.” The calls of young
squirrels have been described as sounding particularly “mu-
sical.” Whereas captive Gambian sun squirrels do not build
nests, wild individuals form beds in the holes of woodland
tree species. The squirrels select holes with entrances that
are just large enough to admit the animals, and they line the
cavities with fresh leaves and fi bers from Tr ip l o c hit o n trees.
Breeding probably takes place during two seasons, from
July to August and December to January. The lifespan of H.
gambianus has not been recorded from the wild, but one cap-
tive individual lived for 8 years and 11 months.general references: Delany 1975; Happold 1987; King-
don 1974; Nowak 1999; Rosevear 1969; Setzer 1954; Watson
1975.Heliosciurus mutabilis (Peters, 1852)
Mutable Sun Squirreldescription: The mutable sun squirrel is unique for the
dramatic diff erences in its pelage coloration between molts,
which appear to take place from October to May. This
variation, in combination with its close resemblance to
H. rufobrachium and H. gambianus, has caused a great deal
of confusion over this species’ identifi cation. However, H.
mutabilis generally has a paler pelage, distinct tail rings,
and a clear demarcation between the dorsal and the ventral
pelage, with the venter sparser and shorter haired than the
dorsum.