NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mutable Sun Squirrel
Heliosciurus mutabilis (Peters, 1852)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Drawing of Heliosciurus mutabilis, printed in Wilhelm Peters: Naturwissenschaftliche Reise nach Mossambique: auf Befehl seiner Majestät des Königs Friedrich Wilhelm IV in den Jahren 1842 bis 1848 ausgeführt. Berlin, 1852, pp. 1–205 (pl. 30)
Wilhelm Müller · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The mutable sun squirrel (Heliosciurus mutabilis) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, moist savanna, and subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland.
Wikipedia contributors, Mutable sun squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:42:17.786310+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heliosciurus mutabilis (Peters, 1852)
- Name authority
- (Peters, 1852)
- Common name
- Mutable Sun Squirrel
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Sciuridae
- Genus
- Heliosciurus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderSciuromorpha Brandt, 1855
- familySciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
- subfamilyXerinae Osborn, 1910
- tribeProtoxerini Moore, 1959
- genusHeliosciurus Trouessart, 1880
- speciesHeliosciurus mutabilis (Peters, 1852)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Heliosciurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ruwenzori Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus ruwenzorii (Schwann, 1904) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gambian Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus gambianus (Ogilby, 1835) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Small Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus punctatus (Temminck, 1853) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-legged Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632367 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3KC46. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.