NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Red-legged Sun Squirrel
Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The red-legged sun squirrel (Heliosciurus rufobrachium) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae, also commonly known as the isabelline red-legged sun squirrel. It is native to tropical western and central Africa where its range extends from Senegal in the west, through Nigeria and the Republic of Congo to Uganda and Tanzania in the east. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and moist savanna. This species is thought to be common and has a very wide distribution, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Wikipedia contributors, Red-legged sun squirrel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:11:40.372525+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heliosciurus rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842)
- Name authority
- (Waterhouse, 1842)
- Common name
- Red-legged 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 rufobrachium (Waterhouse, 1842)
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 |
| Mutable Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus mutabilis (Peters, 1852) | SciuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Small Sun SquirrelHeliosciurus punctatus (Temminck, 1853) | 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=632369 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:3KC48. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.